Mamodo Battles!
by gabredi
Summary: 1000 years after Zatch Bell becomes the Mamodo King, the battle takes place once again, this time with 350 mamodo children striving to become the King. It's gonna be one heck of a battle! CURRENTLY ON HIATUS.
1. Level 1: The Start

_A small boy of about seven years stood on the roof of a high building. It was early morning, and the sun was just rising. The boy had spiky, unruly yellow hair and golden eyes. He had lines on his face, two for each side, starting at the bottom of each eye and running down his cheeks. He had a calm, serious expression on his face. His body was covered with a plain brown cloak, which had a large pocket where the hood would be; inside this pocket was a large, yellow, hardcover book. _

_The boy stood on the rooftop for a moment, looking out over the city, as if thinking about something; then he leaped off, onto another one, and started moving again._

* * *

Nat Anamura sighed heavily. With his bookcase slung over his shoulder, his shoulders hunched, and the depressing aura surrounding him, it didn't take a genius to see that this kid was having a bad day. He was a boy of about fourteen, above average height but not tall for his age, with spiky, dark brown hair, and had a lean muscular build. He was wearing his school uniform: a white shirt, a dark blue tie and pair of trousers, and a sleeveless grey sweater with the school symbol on it: a red and blue checkered badge with an eagle in the middle.

He had been jeered at, given withering looks, insulted and avoided the entire day – but that was pretty normal, he was used to that. No, the reason why he was so depressed was because he'd managed to screw up yet again. He had tried to help a young girl in danger – she had somehow fallen off the bridge just in front of the school. He'd saved her, but she'd pulled her hand out of his, screamed, "Ew! Get away from me!" and had promptly run off.

_Even when I don't screw up, I screw up._

To be honest, he hadn't done anything wrong. But it was always this way: anytime he helped someone, he got nothing but grief. The people of New Tokyo hated and feared him, and seemingly without reason. His only crime was being alive.

That was the problem, though. Nat wasn't exactly a _normal_ human being.

For one thing, he wasn't supposed to _be_ alive.

This, coupled with his unnatural ability, had him firmly labelled as a freak, an abomination, even. People tended to fear things that they didn't understand. Nat didn't blame anyone, though. He was a child that should never have been born.

* * *

A small boy stood on a low building, beside a man who was holding a hardcover, turquoise-coloured book. The boy was about ten years old, with pink hair and cold, piercing red eyes. He might have looked relatively normal but for the two lines on his face, one for each side, starting at the bottom of each eye and running down his cheeks. He was wearing a red jacket over a white shirt and blue denim jeans, and white trainers. The man was about nineteen, and wore a brown shirt over a vest and camouflage cargo pants. He had dark hair with bangs covering his forehead, and on his head was a brown beanie hat. Both of them were looking at Nat as he walked down the street.

"So that's our target," the man said, referring to Nat. "You said you sensed a strange power from him, right, Raijo?"

The boy, Raijo, nodded. "Yeah. It may just be me, but, if my hunch is right, he could become very troublesome if he found a mamodo partner. That's why we have to take him out." He put out his hand. "Read the spell, Uri."

Uri grinned. "Gotcha." He opened the book, and it started to glow brightly as he read the first spell.

"Biraitsu!"

A blue laser beam shot out of the outstretched mamodo's hand, headed straight for Nat.

* * *

Suddenly Nat froze. He sensed danger, big danger. It was coming from right behind him –

He quickly sidestepped, narrowly dodging the laser beam, which smashed into the ground in front of him, creating a small crater.

"What the –"

"Damn, I missed," a voice said, coming from behind him. He turned and saw a boy and a young man standing on a low building. The boy had his palm open, and a tiny bit of smoke was coming from it, and the older guy was holding out a strange book.

_Was that…from them? _He thought.

"No problem," the older guy said, raising the book, which started shining brightly. "We'll just fire again."

_What? Fire again?_ Nat thought. _He wouldn't do that when there are so many people here… Would he…?_

"Biraitsu!"

_Apparently so, _Nat thought, dodging the laser beam again, this time with ease. The people in the street had been quiet until now, shocked into silence, but now they began to panic. The crowd descended into chaos.

_These people might get hit by one of those beams! I have to lead those guys away! _Nat thought. Ignoring the leers he was getting, he turned and ran.

"Crap, he's getting away!" Raijo yelled, jumping off the building and going after him. Uri followed suit. They started pushing people out of the way to get through and catch up to him.

"Biraitsu!" Again, Nat dodged the laser beam, without stopping or turning back to look. He just kept running. He had to get away from them; his life was in danger.

_Aw, great, _he thought sarcastically, as Raijo fired another beam, _this is just what I needed now!_

Uri kept reading the spell as he and Raijo chased Nat, following him into a deserted area of the city. Nat kept dodging every one of the beams without stopping, without turning back. Suddenly, he snatched the lid of a garbage can as Raijo fired a beam at him. He turned and held the lid up by the handle, like a shield, reflecting the beam right back at his pursuers.

"What the -" Uri exclaimed, barely getting out of the reflected beam's way, which Raijo had ducked to avoid. Raijo wasn't very surprised; Biraitsu had a quality that was both a strength and a weakness – the beam could be reflected a number of times. It hadn't worked on the concrete ground because the beam was too strong, but it could easily be reflected off metal.

Raijo was more concerned with how the human had figured out this special quality. And as the boy had turned around, Raijo had caught a glimpse at his eyes and had gotten a nasty shock, though it wasn't a shock really. After all, he had sensed power from the human. His hunch was, unfortunately, correct.

The boy's eyes had a concentric ring pattern in them.

* * *

Nat ran as fast as he could, dodging the laser beams, the garbage can lid grasped tightly in his right hand. He just had to outrun these guys, or, failing that, he could wait until they ran out of energy; they couldn't keep this up forever.

And he was right. Although Uri still had plenty of heart energy left, Raijo had a feeling that it would be gone very quickly at the rate they were firing.

_We better finish this up quickly,_ he thought.

Suddenly Nat saw a brick wall up ahead. It was a dead end. He kept running and, just as he was about to run into it, planted a foot on the wall and ran a quarter of the way up, quick as lightning. At his limit, he back flipped off of the wall, landing right behind Uri and Raijo, and took off in the opposite direction.

"DAMMIT!" Uri yelled, as they both turned and ran after him. The acrobatic manoeuvre had put some distance between him and them.

_We'll never catch up at this rate! _Raijo thought.

"Raijo! Aim at the ground!" Uri yelled. Raijo obeyed, aiming at the ground below Nat's feet.

"Biraitsu!"

The beam destroyed the ground under Nat's feet, causing him to stumble and fall. He got up and started running again, but nearly stopped. There was a sharp pain in his left leg. He had twisted his ankle falling down.

"He sure can limp fast!" Raijo noticed, as Nat kept the distance between him and his pursuers. But he ran into another dead end, and this time, he couldn't run up the wall. He was cornered.

As Uri cast the spell, Raijo grinned. "Gotcha!" Nat held up the garbage can lid and deflected the beam, but they just kept firing. He managed to deflect five more beams before the lid was knocked out of his hand.

"Ow," he muttered, nursing his hand. Raijo grinned as the spellbook started to glow even more brightly.

"Looks like your time's run out," he said, a wide grin on his face. "You lose."

He put out his hand.

"Goodbye."

"Biraitsu!"

A powerful laser beam, stronger than any of the others they had fired up till now, was shot from Raijo's hand.

Suddenly, a small five-pointed star zoomed in out of nowhere and deflected it right back. It smashed into the ground in front of Uri, almost touching his book.

A boy covered in a brown cloak dropped down a few feet in front of Nat. He had spiky, unruly yellow hair. A large yellow book dropped to the ground right in front of Nat. Other than its colour, it was identical to the one Uri was holding, and on its cover was the same symbol: two triangles meeting at the point, one upside down on top of the other, and five circles, one each at the free corners of the two triangles and one at the center, where the triangles met.

"Hey," the boy said, "try reading that book." He turned his head to speak to Nat, and from this Nat could see that he had golden eyes, and that there were four lines on his face, two for each side, starting at the bottom of each eye and running down his cheeks.

Nat picked up the book and looked at it.

_It looks exactly the same as the book that guy's holding, _he thought, _except this one's yellow. I wonder…_

He opened the book and looked in it, but he couldn't read it. Except for the lines in colour on the first page…

"The first spell…" he read. The book started to glow as the boy took aim.

"Farga!"

A yellow beam of light shot out of the star from earlier, coming straight for Raijo and Uri.

"Whoa!" Raijo yelled, narrowly avoiding it. Uri just barely dodged it as well. It smashed into the ground behind them, leaving a good-size crater, certainly bigger than the one that Biraitsu had made.

_That beam is FAST! _Raijo thought. _And powerful! Crap, this is bad. That guy's a book owner after all!_

Nat stared at the hole in the ground, speechless.

"So you're my partner, huh…" the boy mused.

"P…partner..?" Nat stammered. His senses were still shell-shocked from what had just happened.

"Yup," the boy answered. "You're the only human in the world that can read that book. And the reason why you can read it is because you are its owner. That means that you're the only person who can help me to use my spells. So that makes you my partner."

_What the hell… _Raijo thought. He didn't care how powerful this kid was, he wasn't going to let the battle be pushed aside like it wasn't important.

"Damn it…" he muttered. Uri picked up on his feelings and held the book out to read.

"DON'T IGNORE ME!" Raijo yelled, aiming at the other kid. The book in Uri's hand started to glow again.

"Biraitsu!"

The laser beam was even stronger this time, fuelled by Raijo's anger, but the boy just sighed and waved his hand. The star moved in and deflected the beam into the ground.

"I don't want to do this," the boy said, with heavy reluctance in his voice. He took a battle-ready stance.

"But," he added, his tone now determined, "I can't let these guys hurt you anymore."

Raijo and Uri quickly got up and stood in a way that showed they were ready to fight.

"My name is Dante," the boy said, speaking to Nat. "Please help me to defeat these guys!"


	2. Level 2: 3, 2, 1, Go!

"The only way to beat these guys," the boy, Dante, explained, "is to burn the book that that older guy's holding. That will send the guy firing the lasers back to the Mamodo World."

Nat had a lot of questions to ask. For example, what the heck was the Mamodo World? Who was this kid? What was this book he was holding, the book only he could read?

"I'll explain everything later," Dante said, as if reading his mind. He nodded towards Raijo. "Right now, we have to burn that other boy's spell book!"

Nat was silent for a moment. Then, he nodded.

"Gotcha." The book in his hand started glowing again as he concentrated. "Let's do this!"

* * *

"Tch," Raijo exhaled, in an annoyed tone, "So he's going to fight now, eh?"

But the voice in his mind was playing a very different tune: panic. He knew that this kid's first spell outclassed his in terms of raw power, and added to that, he had the target's strange power on his side, although he wasn't using it now.

_Normally, on equal footing, we'd stand no chance, _he thought grimly, _but this is their first battle. We have experience on our side. We still have a chance…_

"Uri."

Uri turned to look at his partner.

"This kid's just found his book owner now, so we have a slight advantage in that we've got more experience. But I get the feeling that experience isn't gonna do shit. We're gonna have to press 'em, give them no room to attack. Hopefully, they have only one spell, so we should have another thing in our favour. But this is gonna be real tight, so we have to use all our power. We can't underestimate 'em."

"Got it," Uri said, his face taking on a serious expression. He saw the fear in Raijo's expression, heard it in his voice. He knew that Raijo was scared. And that was serious.

"Biraitsu!" he chanted, and Raijo fired his laser beam. Dante waved, and the star blocked it again.

"Farga!" Dante aimed, and the star fired another light beam. Raijo picked up the trash can lid and held it up in an attempt to block it.

First rule about mamodo spells: Farga cannot be deflected. Raijo learned this the hard way. The lid was blasted out of his hand, and he was knocked off balance by the sheer force of the beam, landing butt-first on the ground and cradling his hand.

"Ow!" he cried. He quickly got up, in an attempt to move before he left an opening, but the kid was standing right in front of him. Dante planted a powerful punch in Raijo's stomach, making him cough up some blood, and throwing him back even further. Raijo landed on his back, but quickly sat up. Not even bothering to stand this time, he aimed at Dante, who was rushing at him.

"URI!" he yelled.

"Biraitsu!" The beam got Dante square in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and throwing him back, but he flipped and landed on his feet.

"Dante!" Nat yelled.

"I'm OK!" Dante replied.

_Don't worry about me! Just concentrate on the battle!_

Did he just hear the kid's voice in his head?

Blasting Dante back had given Raijo enough time to get up. He wiped the small trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth.

_This kid's strong! _he thought. _Hand-to-hand's a no-go, then._

"Uri, let's use the second spell!" he yelled, aiming at Nat. Uri nodded and proceeded to unleash the second spell.

"Ganzu Biraitsu!"

Raijo started to fire loads of laser beams at near-submachine speed. Dante jumped back in front of Nat and started to block them with his star, waving his arms in a frenzied way, a look of intense concentration on his face.

Raijo grinned. "Hmph! One of those things is nowhere near enough to block my attack!"

"Yeah," Dante said, "you're right." Suddenly, two more stars appeared out of thin air and started deflecting the beams.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Raijo cried, pissed off and also freaked out. He was pissed because this stupid mamodo shrimp had managed to block his second spell without using a spell of his own. And he was scared because…

_If the beam from __**one **__star is so powerful, _he thought anxiously, _what am I supposed to do against __**three**__?_

Suddenly Nat spoke. "Dante."

_You go on ahead. I'll be fine._

Dante nodded and sprang forward at lightning-quick speed, the stars disappearing as quickly as they'd appeared.

"AAAGH!" Raijo yelled, panicked. "GET AWAY!"

"Ganzu Biraitsu!"

Dante dodged all the laser beams neatly and homed in on Raijo. He went for a kick to the head, but the older mamodo managed to block it with both hands. Raijo pushed off Dante's leg, making him almost lose his balance, and put some distance between them.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Raijo said. "You managed to get through without getting hit, but what about your partner?"

Dante had been worried about that too, but he just closed his eyes and smiled.

"He said he'd be fine. I trust him."

* * *

Nat felt a small pang of fear as the lasers got closer. He wasn't even sure that he could do this. But before, he'd felt it when they fired at his back. A feeling warning of danger, and where it was coming from.

_Concentrate, _he thought to himself, taking a deep breath. _Don't panic. It won't work if there's a trace of doubt or hesitation in your mind._

He then proceeded to sidestep all of the beams without missing a beat.

Uri's jaw hit the ground. Raijo just stood there, speechless. Dante took the opportunity and rushed at Raijo. The older mamodo cringed and covered his head, but Dante just rushed past him, going straight for Uri. Raijo realised this and quickly threw himself after him. He tried a leg sweeper, but Dante jumped over it, somersaulted and landed behind him. He quickly turned around and aimed at Dante.

"Biraitsu!"

The beam pushed Dante back, but he managed to keep his feet on the ground.

_I can't get close enough to the book! _Dante thought.

_Then we need a plan, _his book owner's voice echoed inside his head. _And I think I've got one…_

* * *

Dante suddenly rushed at Raijo, going in for an uppercut, but Raijo flipped back, narrowly avoiding it. As he landed, Dante tried to trip him up with a leg sweeper, which he caught in his hands, drawing himself back to negate the impact. He grinned.

_He left himself wide open! _he thought. Holding onto Dante's leg, he swung him round and round, and then threw him. Hard.

"WAAAAAAAAHH!" Dante screamed. He flew and landed hard on the ground a few feet away. Raijo dusted his hands off and grinned confidently.

"I knew it!" he cried, triumphantly. "That punch was a lucky shot! There's no way a noob like you would be able to –"

He stopped when he saw the smile on Dante's face.

_What the…_

He was dumbfounded. Why was this kid grinning like he'd just won the lottery?

"What's so funny, dammit!" he yelled, stamping his foot in annoyance. "I just threw you like a sack of feathers, you nitwit! Don't you realise that you're now at my –"

He stopped again.

"Ah," he said with a horrified yet comical look of discovery on his face, realising that he'd just done the worst thing possible.

He'd just thrown the kid towards Uri.

"You see it now, don't you?" Nat said, smiling. "But it's too late!"

Uri started as Dante sprung up and knocked the book out of his hand. It flew into the sky, too high to reach in time. A star appeared out of thin air in front of it.

"I guess I don't lose after all," Nat said. The yellow book glowed in his hands.

"Farga!"

The light beam from the star put a hole neatly through the middle of Raijo's book, the circumference (the line around the circle) of which went up in flames. Raijo faded away, head hung and shoulders hunched, as the book burned to a cinder.

Dante leaned in close to Uri's face.

"Boo."

"AAUGH!" Uri cried, running away as fast as his legs could carry him.

As soon as he disappeared from view, Dante physically relaxed.

He sighed heavily, relieved, and sank to his knees. "Phew!" Nat limped over to him.

"Hey, are you all right?" Nat asked. Dante looked up and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, standing up. "I was just really nervous. This was my very first battle. I didn't know if we were gonna win." He grinned up at Nat. "Thanks."

"No problem," Nat replied. Then Dante noticed the funny way Nat was standing.

"Ah! What about your leg?" he said, in a worried, agitated tone. "Does it still hurt? You want me to carry you to the hospital?"

"What? No, I'm fine," Nat said, waving his hands and sweat-dropping. "This is nothing! It'll be better by tomorrow. You should be more worried about yourself." The battle had taken its toll on the child. His cloak and clothes were in tatters, and he was badly bruised.

"Oh, this?" Dante said dismissively. "It'll heal up in a few hours."

"What…" Nat was dumbstruck. "You're not human, are you?" He knew it was a dumb question, but he was still trying to come to grips with what was happening.

"No," Dante replied, shaking his head; apparently he didn't find the question stupid at all. "I'm a mamodo, a creature from a different world than yours. It's gonna take a while to explain everything…"

"Right," Nat said. "Well then, follow me and we can talk at my place."

Dante nodded. Then he remembered something.

"Ah, that's right," he said, "I told you my name, but I forgot to ask for yours…"

"Hmm? My name's Nat," Nat replied. "Nat Anamura."

"Nat… So you're my book owner…" Dante mused. Then he smiled.

"I'm happy to finally meet you!" he said happily, looking up at Nat. "I hope that we get along well!"

Nat was a bit surprised by that. He wasn't used to someone actually acting _nice _to him. But it wasn't a bad feeling.

He looked at the book that he was carrying in his hand, remembered the battle that just taken place, and although he didn't know much about it, he had to admit that what had just happened was better than being at home with nothing to do after a miserable and eventless day. He was going to remember this one for a while, that was for sure.

Besides which, he reasoned, Dante had saved him. He'd probably be dead if Dante didn't show up when he did. Anything from here on out could only be a bonus.

A smile crossed his face, a genuinely happy one. He had his life, and he'd found someone who was being nice to him, like he wasn't some unwanted menace. Not too bad, considering the previous highlight of the day had been feeling like a monster.

"Yeah," he said, as they walked side by side under a sunset sky, "Pissing you off would be a really bad idea."

* * *

**Yeah, so as you may have noticed, I've made a few corrections, and I forgot to replace the author's note in Chapter 1 and this chapter. I'm not going to replace them now, because I'm too lazy :P I _will_ remember to replace the others, though. **

**Cyaz  
**


	3. Level 3: Ground Rules

"Well," Nat said, "here we are…"

The two stood in front of an old, large, fairly plain building, which had three storeys, each with about five or so apartment rooms. The rooms weren't the biggest, but they were comfortable enough to live in, and the rent wasn't too high. The front door was large, with a red button slightly above the middle, and no handle.

Nat walked up to the door and pressed the button, opening a slot above it with a sound receiver and screen. The screen had a message in all-caps green text displayed on it.

SOUND VERIFICATION NEEDED, it read.

"Nat Anamura," Nat said into the receiver. The door slid open, quickly and silently. Nat went in, and Dante followed. They walked up a staircase to the second floor into a corridor of moderate length, with five doors about 3 metres apart. Nat walked up to the middle one and typed a code on the touch pad on the right side of the door, which opened it with a soft hiss. Nat went in and gestured for Dante to follow.

Nat's apartment was mostly tidy, with a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living room, which was where they were standing. There were two small but cosy armchairs and a sofa, and a small television on the table leaning against the left of the room.

"I'll go find something to eat," Nat said, dropping his bookcase and the strange yellow book on the sofa. "Make yourself at home."

"OK, thanks," Dante replied, stretching.

Dante crashed on one of the armchairs, while Nat headed to the door on the right of the room, which led to the kitchen. A small fridge was in the corner, and a sink on the right side. Nat went over to the fridge and rummaged around inside it until he found some fruit, a packet of biscuits and a loaf of bread. He put them on a tray and carried the food back to the living room. Dante looked up as he set the tray on the middle table.

"Help yourself," Nat said, sitting on the sofa. Dante reached out and took a chunk out of the bread and started eating it, and Nat took an apple.

Now that they weren't in any imminent danger, Nat got a proper look at the mamodo boy for the first time. His cloak was in tatters from the battle, showing that he was wearing a white sleeveless shirt with a five-pointed star in the middle and blue jeans. On the backhand side of each of his hands was what looked like a miniature yellow 20-point star, like the spokes on the end of a cowboy's boot. Nat wondered if they were actually a part of his hands. His shoes were also pretty basic, simple brown slip-ons with a black outline.

True to his word, most of Dante's bruises from the battle earlier were gone. Nat looked at him in amazement, as he took a large bite out of his apple. He wondered how many more kids there were like him in the world – kids with strange powers, incredible strength and speed, and odd-looking books.

As if reading his mind, Dante swallowed his bread and looked up. "You probably want to know about the Mamodo Battle."

"The what?"

"The reason you have that book," Dante said, pointing at the yellow book on the sofa next to Nat, "and the reason that I'm in the human world."

"Oh, yeah," Nat said, remembering what Dante had said earlier – he was a creature from a different world, called a mamodo. Dante took a deep breath and began.

"Tournum id Krun Mamono Milleniannum," Dante started, "mamodo for 'the battle for the Mamodo Crown every thousand years'. It's usually just called the Mamodo Battle. Every millennium, mamodo children chosen by the current King of the Mamodo World and the Mamodo School Principal come to the human world to take part in a battle to determine the next King of the Mamodo World. Right now, there are 349 – no, wait, 348 – other kids like me in this world, if Raijo was the first mamodo whose book's been burned."

"That's a lot of mamodo."

Dante nodded. "Yup. The number used to be smaller – 100, I think – but the current King, Zatch Bell, increased it to 350. He said that he wanted to give more people who are eligible for the tournament a chance, during the send-off speech he gave to us."

_Smart thinking, _Nat thought.

"Anyway, back to the battle," Dante continued. "Each mamodo has to team up with a human partner, called a book owner, who reads the mamodo's spells from his or her spell book. There are loads of different colours of spell books, because there are many different types of mamodo spells, but generally they all have this design on them." He pointed at the book, indicating the symbol on the cover – the 'hourglass and five circles'. That was what it looked like to Nat, anyway.

"The spell books are very important to the battle participants," Dante explained. "They serve two functions – one, they seal our powers so that we can only use them when our human partner reads our spells from the book. This makes sure that every mamodo finds a human partner to fight with, and doesn't just fight on their own.

"Two – and this is very important – it serves as a participant's ticket to becoming the King. The spell books are the only things that are keeping the mamodo in the human world. If a mamodo's book is burnt, the mamodo is sent back to the mamodo world and loses any chance that they had of becoming the King."

"So that's what happened to Raijo…"

"Exactly. Books can be burnt if they are hit by a spell, slashed by a blade or claws enhanced by a spell, or by a lighter or a match, but mamodo can never burn their own spell book."

"But can't someone just try to put the flames out?"

"No, it wouldn't work. Mamodo spell books are made of a highly combustible material that produces flames that can't be put out. Once the book starts burning, that's it. The mamodo's lost. Game over."

"Oh." _I better not let Dante's book get burnt, then._

"In order to survive, mamodo try to burn other mamodo's books while keeping theirs intact. The last mamodo left in the human world becomes the King."

"Or Queen."

"No, you become the King whether you're a boy or a girl."

"That is incredibly sexist."

Dante shrugged. "Maybe, but nobody's ever had a problem with it, so it was never changed, I guess."

"So that means all the mamodo who were chosen must know what kind of King they want to be," Nat said. Dante shrugged again.

"I guess so."

"What kind of King do you want to be, Dante?"

Dante looked a bit surprised at the question. He hadn't expected his partner to care about something like that.

_That just shows that he's a good person, _a voice at the back of his head said.

"So?"

Dante thought for a moment, and then answered with a grin on his face:

"I wanna be a kind King! A King that listens to others, and gives everyone an equal and fair chance. Like King Zatch! He's kind and friendly and really strong, and he doesn't look down on you just because you're a little kid. I wanna be a King just like him!"

The admiration and respect for this person that Dante was talking about was very evident in his voice, Nat noticed.

_He obviously means every word he's saying._

A smile came to Nat's face as he listened to Dante go on about Zatch Bell's legend, how nice he always was to everybody, how powerful he was, how his signature spell – Bao Zakeruga, a gigantic lightning dragon of immense power – had put fear into the hearts of wicked men and defeated even the strongest of opponents. He was obviously a very good and admirable person.

"It's getting pretty late," Nat said suddenly, looking at the clock – it was a few minutes past midnight. "I have school tomorrow, so I'm gonna go hit the hay. You should get some rest too."

"OK, I'll go sleep in the hallway –"

An astonished Nat caught Dante by the scruff of the neck as the mamodo headed for the door.

"What on earth for? There's a perfectly good bed in here!"

"No, I don't want to be a bother, really," Dante said, shaking his head. Nat ignored him and dragged him into the bedroom. It was a bit small, but cosy and well-kept. There was a bed in the corner – Nat's bed – with a bedside table, and a desk with a laptop on it and a chair at the desk. A large wardrobe covered the left wall of the room, facing the bed.

"You can sleep on that," Nat said, pointing at his bed. Dante looked around and saw that there was no other bed in the room.

"Where will you sleep?" he asked, in response to which Nat pulled out a futon – a sort of Japanese sleeping bag – from the wardrobe.

"In this."

"But this is your bed!" Dante protested. "I can't take your bed!"

"Yes you can," Nat said, brushing his teeth in the bathroom. His mouth was full so it sounded more like, "Yushu kanh." He rinsed and spat.

"Besides," he continued, coming back into the bedroom, "you don't have a choice. This is my house. You live under my roof, you follow my rules."

"Technically, that's more of an order than a rule," Dante said.

"True," Nat said. "And technically, I can still burn your book on the stove in the kitchen."

Dante shut up.

"Now get into bed."

Dante got into bed.

Nat smirked triumphantly. He had a feeling that that would work. He laid the futon on the floor and got into it.

"That's where you're sleeping until we can get you your own bed," he said, wriggling around to make himself more comfortable, "so you'd better get used to it."

"Mmh," Dante mumbled, feeling horrible that he was sleeping in a bed while his book owner had to sleep on the floor. The fact that the bed was softer than what he was used to made it even worse. These thoughts were soon forgotten as exhaustion and the comfy bed finally lulled him to sleep.

Nat lay in the futon, thinking about what Dante had said to him. He wanted to be a kind king, someone who was just and fair to all.

_A kind king, eh? _

A small smile crossed his face.

_Don't worry, Dante. I won't let you down. I'll make you the King no matter what._

And in his sleep, as if he'd heard the silent promise, Dante smiled.


	4. Level 4: A Not So Normal School Day

Nat woke up early the next morning. He yawned and sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He glanced at the clock – 6:30. Nat always woke up at 6:30, because he had to get ready for school in time, and leave the house early enough so that he got to the school before eight o'clock, which was when school started.

He quickly noticed that the clock was a lot higher up than usual, and that the floor was a lot closer. He woke up fully as he realised that he was in a futon on the floor. He started trying to figure out why this was so when he had a very comfy bed to sleep in.

And then the events of the day before came flooding back to him – he'd been attacked and chased by a kid who shot lasers out of his hands, saved at the last minute by another strange kid, fought his attackers with the kid and won, and now he was part of some huge battle to determine the king of an alternate world. It sounded crazy to him now, but he had no doubt that it was true, after what had happened yesterday.

Well, with that mystery out of the way, it was about time to get up.

He rose, rather reluctantly – it was almost absurdly comfy, that futon – and got to his feet, bleary-eyed. He proceeded to shuffle sleepily into the bathroom. He brushed his teeth, had a bath and got dressed in school uniform - white shirt, dark blue tie and pair of trousers, grey sweater with the school symbol on it. He had the blazer, but he really didn't need it – it was too big and only made him hot and uncomfortable.

He looked over to his bed, where Dante was sleeping. Or rather, where he was _supposed _to be sleeping. The bed was empty.

_Where'd he go? _

Nat exited the room and promptly tripped over Dante, who was sleeping right outside the door. The loud thud as Nat hit the ground woke him up.

"Hnnnh…?" Dante murmured, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Ow…" Nat clutched at his head, rubbing it to stave off the pain. He then turned on Dante.

"Why were you sleeping in front of the door?!"

"Ah! Sorry!" Dante jerked up, eyes wide. "I woke up and you were still asleep, so I tried to find something to eat, cause I was really hungry, and I didn't want to wake you up, but I didn't know where the food was, so I came back and waited here, but you never woke up, so…" Dante let out a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his head.

Nat sighed.

"Sorry…"

"Next time, just wake me up, okay?" Nat instructed. Dante nodded vigorously. Then they both heard a loud growl coming from Dante's stomach, and his face turned red. Nat smiled.

"Come on, let's get some breakfast."

* * *

"So what's your school like?" Dante asked, as he and Nat passed the sign that indicated they were entering the city.

Nat hummed a bit before answering. "It's pretty cool. It's big and it has loads of facilities and a huge playground. The kids are pretty nice, too. Well, not to _me, _but…"

The two had agreed that Dante was to follow Nat to school. It was a better and safer option than leaving him at the apartment, because according to Dante, there were mamodo who could sense others. Dante was one of them.

"So how are we doing this?" Nat asked, tilting the yellow spell book, which he was carrying in his right hand. "Are we gonna go look for mamodo after school or something?"

"No," Dante replied, shaking his head. "I'm honoured that I was picked and all, but I'd rather not fight unless I absolutely have to."

Nat nodded, relieved. He wasn't someone who liked fighting either. He looked up and pointed at his school as it came into view. "There it is!"

"Whoa!" Dante breathed. The school building was massive, mostly white with a blue roof and blue window frames, and other buildings identically coloured could be seen behind it. They crossed the large white bridge in front of it, under which was a clear, clean, fast-flowing river, and entered through the front door, which slid open automatically.

"Yeah, this place is pretty nice, isn't it?" Nat replied. "Come on, you can stay with me in my class." He led Dante up two sets of stairs to the second floor, leading into a hallway with several doors at either side, and they went into the third door on the right.

Behind the door was a classroom with 30 or so other students, and very noisy ones at that. None of them paid any attention as Nat took his seat near the back of the class, but some heads turned and stared at the seven-year-old who followed him. Most of these were female.

"Do you see that_?_"

"It's a little kid!"

"He's soooo cuuute!"

"What's he doing here?"

"Let's go ask him!"

They closed in on him, boxing him in. He was surrounded. There was no escape.

They started bombarding him with questions.

"Hi! What's your name?"

"Are you looking for someone?"

"Is your brother here? We can help you find him!"

"Are you lost?"

The poor kid was subjected to their onslaught. He couldn't stand it. Their eyes staring at him, probing him, giving him their full attention. He could barely even move. They were too close. He needed his space. He was too afraid to answer. And they wouldn't shut up. He couldn't even concentrate on what they were saying anymore.

He couldn't handle it.

It was just too much.

In desperation he looked over to where Nat was seated, hoping to catch his attention, but Nat had his head in a book! Dante nearly gave up, until he noticed which book Nat was looking at.

It was the yellow spell book.

There was still hope.

Dante started to concentrate, projecting his thoughts…

* * *

Nat stared and stared at the pages of the yellow book. He went over it twice, but there was no change. He could still only read the first page.

The first spell, Farga.

But the mamodo they went against had two spells. Was that a mark of his prowess? Nat doubted it, considering he'd been beaten by a simple trick. He stared at the pages again.

_Maybe there's a knack to how you read the book, _he thought. But he could read the first page normally enough. The only difference he could see was that the words on the first page were in colour – a light yellow, just like the book. Maybe if he painted in a few lines on another page…

_Nat…_

Was that Dante's voice? Nat stopped staring so hard at the book. No, he hadn't heard Dante speak; maybe he was just imagining it…

_Nat…_

There it was again. How was he doing that? Nat remembered that Dante had spoken in his mind during the battle, and when he had projected his own thoughts, Dante had acted accordingly.

_Help…_

That got his attention. He shut the book and looked around him, but Dante was nowhere in sight.

That was odd. Dante was just behind him a second ago.

Nat scanned the classroom, looking for where Dante might have gotten off to. The he noticed that a group of girls were gathered not far from the door, grouped around something and making a fuss. He wondered what they were getting so excited about. Then he saw a flash of yellow and white through a gap between two of them.

_He couldn't be…_

Nat got up and walked towards the small group. Sure enough, Dante was the cause of their excitement. He looked so scared, it was almost funny. Dante saw him and gave him a desperate, pleading look, and he knew that this was what he needed help with. Dante wanted out.

"Okay, ladies, break it up, please," he said, grabbing the girls' attention. "The kid's with me." He pushed through the barrier, ignoring their protests, and stood in front of the small mamodo, waving the girls away. The group sent him withering looks, but soon left.

Dante nearly jumped onto Nat's back with joy, but realised that it would both embarrass Nat and make him look like a baby, so he settled for hugging Nat's legs.

"Thank you so much!" he squealed, looking up at Nat with small tears forming at the corner of his eyes. "That was so scary…"

Nat rolled his eyes and pried him off. He was trying hard not to laugh, but he could understand where the kid was coming from. The girls in his class were like vultures when it came to little kids.

_Women…_ he thought.

"Okay, class, settle down," the form tutor, Mr. Sabae, said loudly, walking into the room. The class took their time about it, but eventually everyone was seated. Nat himself pulled Dante along to his seat, and sat down while Dante climbed onto the desk.

Mr. Sabae was a fairly tall man in his early twenties, with long brown hair and blue eyes, one of which was covered by his hair. He was the youngest – and by far most attractive – teacher working at the school. He was dressed casually, in a blue v-neck shirt over a white vest and brown trousers. No one ever called him Mr. Sabae, though – that was an offence punishable by death. Everyone called him by his first name.

"Good morning, Hayate-sensei!"

"Morning, guys," Hayate replied. "First things first. I'll take attendance." He picked up the attendance sheet from the desk.

"Nat?"

"Present," Nat replied.

"Kyoko?"

"Present!"

"Satoshi?"

"Present."

"Mizumi?"

"Present…"

Hayate was the only teacher who correctly remembered and used his students' first name. He was also one of the few teachers who got along very well with students. Unlike most other teachers, he treated the students as equals, and could relate with them very well. He also didn't shun Nat like most of the others. He was Nat's favourite teacher. Nat was quite happy to be in his class, and that first period was Science.

"Okay, now that that's out of the way, we can start the lesson," Hayate said brightly, tossing the sheet on the table. "But before we do, there are some things you should know…"

"Is that your class teacher?" Dante whispered, as Hayate continued the morning announcements. Nat nodded and put a finger on his lips. Although he was the one who said Dante could stay with him in class, Nat didn't know if it was actually allowed. He just hoped that Hayate would be too busy with the class to notice one extra member.

"So does anyone have any questions?" Hayate asked, finishing announcements. There were none. "Good. Now we can start today's lesson!" he said, grinning. He turned to the board.

Nat sighed in relief – he hadn't noticed. It probably helped that he was seated behind a guy who was at least a foot taller than him, even when sitting down. Anyone standing at the front of the class wouldn't even know there was a seat behind him.

"But before we begin," Hayate continued, still facing the board, "why don't you introduce us to your little friend, Nat?"

Nat and Dante froze. Suddenly, all eyes in the room were on them. Hayate, who was now turned away from the board, had a smirk on his face. But how? He couldn't have seen Dante from where Nat was seated.

"Um… ah… well…" Nat fumbled for an explanation, sweat-dropping. The class looked at him expectantly.

"He's taking care of me," Dante said quickly. "I don't have a home, see. He found me starving and wandering on the streets yesterday and said I could stay with him." He looked down like a nervous little boy and twiddled his fingers. "He brought me with him cos I was scared of staying by myself…"

"AWWWWWW~," the girls cooed, and immediately started begging Hayate to let him stay.

"Okay, okay! You win," he said, throwing up his hands in defeat. The girls cheered loudly, while the boys just rolled their eyes.

"He can stay until recess," Hayate said to Nat, "then you have to leave him with the nurse or something."

Nat nodded. "Thanks."

Hayate shrugged. "Hey, after hearing all that, I'd have to be a monster to say no." He went back to the front of the class. "All right, now that that's over, can we start now?"

"YES SIR!"

* * *

First and second period came and went a lot faster than Nat expected, even with Hayate-sensei teaching. In no time at all the bell rang for recess. The only things that went faster than the time were the students. The building was emptied faster than you could say Zakeru.

The courtyard was filled with kids, teachers and the like. The little kids played on the playground while the bigger ones walked around or huddled together in groups, talking. Nat sat under a big tree in the corner, unnoticed. It was his spot, and everyone steered clear of it. He had attempted to join in conversations or play with other kids when he was little, but anywhere he went would be deserted by the time he got there. It was as if he _repelled_ them.

He glanced at Dante, who was looking over at the playground, watching the little kids run around, playing on the slide, seesaws and swings. He let out a low sigh.

_He really is too nice._

"Go on, then."

"Hmm?"

"Go and play with them," Nat said, gesturing to the playground. "You want to, right?"

"What about you?"

"Me? I'm staying right here."

"But you can't stay here by yourself…" Dante said uncertainly.

"Why must you always disagree with me?" Nat sighed. When he saw the worried look on Dante's face, he continued, "Look, I always stay by myself, Dante. You shouldn't miss out on all the fun 'cause of me. Now clear off!" He shooed Dante away.

Nat watched as Dante went up to some kids and started playing with them.

_At least he's having fun_, Nat thought, with a little smile on his face. _The lucky devil._ He leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes.

_If only it was like that for me…_

* * *

Two slightly intimidating figures stood outside the school grounds, looking over the playground. They were focusing most of their attention on a small boy, who looked about seven years old, with spiky, unruly yellow hair and golden eyes. Unlike the other kids, he was dressed casually, in a white shirt with a yellow star on it, jeans and brown slip-ons with black outlines. He might have been like any other kid there, except for the lines on his face, two on each side, which started at the bottom of his eyes and ran down his cheeks.

"Are you certain?" the taller of the two asked, speaking with a feminine, French accent. Her companion nodded.

"Excuse me!" a security guard said, grabbing the pair's attention. "Can I help you, madam?" he asked, directing his question to the woman. She almost smiled.

"Ah, yes. Could you please direct us to the headmaster's office?"

* * *

Nat put his head on the desk, listening to the math teacher. He wasn't actually concentrating – he already knew what was being taught. His mind was actually far away.

The time went by much more slowly now, which was normal, because Nat was bored out of his mind. He tried to concentrate, he really did, but it was impossible. The teacher was so boring that no one was paying attention. Some were even sleeping.

_If only Dante was here now_, Nat thought. _He'd make this period go by faster. _But he had promised that he'd leave Dante in the nurse's office, which was where Dante currently was. As Nat was seeing now, that was a really dumb thing to do.

"Anamura!" the teacher snapped, bringing Nat out of his reverie. "Answer the question on the board."

Nat got up, glanced at the board, saw the question, and answered immediately, "2 X cubed plus 5 X squared minus 12 X plus 27."

The teacher looked like he wanted to skin Nat alive. "Correct."

Nat took his seat again as the teacher continued the lesson.

"There he goes again…"

"At least _try _not to make it look like it's super easy."

"Stupid freak…"

"Now they're going to make the tests more difficult!"

"Stop acting like such a know-it-all."

The hate-filled whispers were right on time. Nat sighed and tried to block out their whispered insults and complaints. It wasn't his fault – he hadn't exactly jumped at it – but they didn't care.

_Why did he have to pick me?_ he wondered.

As he tried to ignore the glares burning into his back, an announcement was made.

WOULD NATHANIEL ANAMURA PLEASE REPORT TO THE HEADMASTER'S STUDY, the speakerphone blared. Nat could almost hear the class celebrating as the teacher hurried him out.

As Nat made his way up to the headmaster's office, he wondered if he had done something wrong. Could it be that he wasn't allowed to bring Dante to school? Almost unconsciously, he started to walk faster.

_I hope he's not in trouble…_

* * *

When he arrived at the door to the headmaster's study, the secretary gestured at Nat to go in. As he reached for the door, something in his head screamed at him to just turn around and get the hell away from there, but he shook his head.

_It's just nerves…_ he thought, ignoring the alarm going off in his head. He opened the door and entered.

The room was pretty large, with a trophy cabinet leaning against the left wall, a map of the world on the right, and a huge window which took up the whole of the far wall, with the curtains drawn. The colour scheme was nothing too special: navy blue walls, blue curtains and a large, round, fancy multicoloured rug on the floor. The headmaster's desk was large and rectangular, and was placed near the centre of the room, further from the door.

The only strange thing in the room now was the presence of two people Nat had never seen, and would probably never want to see, in his life.

One of them was a tall, pale-skinned boy about Nat's age, with spiky, messy black hair almost covering his red eyes and black lips. His lower lip, eyebrows and ears all had piercings. He wore a black tank top, a blue short-sleeved sweat jacket with a hood, black cargo capris that were at least a size too big held up by a black studded belt and bandages on his feet, spiked bracelets on both wrists, and a square, silver ring on his right middle finger, as well as a raven pendant. He had a lean build, but his tattooed arms and his legs were muscular, and his chest was toned. On his right arm was tattooed a large, long isosceles triangle with a circle in the centre, and on his left arm was a curious design made up of straight lines with three smaller triangles pointing outwards at the edges, one on top, the others diagonal and pointing down. His nails were long, black and razor sharp, like thick talons. He radiated power. The expression on his face could have frozen a pond in the middle of July.

The other person was a tall, thin woman with an even more frightening expression on her slightly wrinkled face. She looked to be in her late fifties, although she was actually only in her forties. She had thick, curly hair in a bun, and green eyes. If not for her harsh scowl, she would be beautiful. She wore a modest but classy plain brown dress.

"Hello, Nathaniel," the woman said, in a French accent. "Would you like to know why you were sent for?"

Nat couldn't do anything but nod.

"I'm afraid that was my doing," the woman continued. "My name is Idelle Debussy, and this young man is called Amon." She indicated the other boy. Idelle then held up a large, hardcover white book with black lines running every which way on it. However, the symbol on the cover was very clear: the hourglass and five circles which was on the cover of Nat's spellbook.

"Boy, have you seen a book with this symbol on it before?"

* * *

**Mamodo team debut: Amon and Idelle**

**Submitted by: stevethemime**


	5. Level 5: Dangerous Foes

_Well, at least it wasn't nerves…_

Despite the shock of the current situation, Nat had the presence of mind to maintain a slightly confused look. The two people in front of him had obviously come here to fight, and Nat could sense their power.

To put it simply, they were strong.

Very, very strong.

_We might not be able to beat them… _Nat thought. _But they don't know I'm the book owner. If I play dumb, maybe they'll try somewhere else, and we can avoid a fight._

"Hmm…" Nat looked at the spellbook closely. "That's a very odd-looking book, ma'am. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it before – "

"Don't even bother," Amon said flatly, cutting him off. "You already revealed yourself by hesitating."

Seeing his façade being seen through so easily, Nat dropped it.

"I'm sure you know what happens when two mamodo cross paths," Idelle said calmly. "Now, we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way. Just hand over your book and no one gets hurt."

"And what if I choose not to?" Nat asked.

"Well, if you don't give it to us, then that means you want to fight," Idelle replied coolly. "And if that is your intention, then we will be happy to start the fight right here, in this school full of innocent humans who have nothing to do with the battle." Shock and horror registered themselves on Nat's face as she spoke. "Is that really what you want?"

"You… you can't do that!"

"Oh, but we can, and we will," Idelle assured him. Panic began to rise in his chest as his eyes darted from her to the mamodo and back again.

_Crap…What do I do…?_ _If I don't give them the book, people could get hurt!_ _But…_

He remembered when Dante blocked the laser attack that would have killed him, and how Dante had abandoned Raijo's book and jumped back without hesitation to protect him from Ganzu Biraitsu.

_But…_

_I wanna be a kind King! A King that listens to others, and gives everyone an equal and fair chance._

Dante's words echoed in Nat's head, and suddenly, everything became clear. The doubts disappeared from his mind, and he knew what he had to do.

"So what's your decision?" Idelle asked. Nat was silent for a moment before answering.

"I've heard what you had to say…" he started slowly. "And I've decided…" He looked up, and the determination showed clearly in his eyes. "…that I can't let anyone in this place get hurt."

Before Idelle or Amon could say anything, Nat continued.

"But I also know that giving up the book isn't an option."

Before anyone else could move, Nat threw himself forward. Idelle held her book tightly, out of reach, and Amon prepared to attack, but he went straight past them both, activating the fire alarm on the principal's desk. The alarm system went off in all the classes, and the students, thinking it was a surprise fire drill, quickly lined up and started leaving their classes.

"This way, everyone is safely out of the building." A grin was present on Nat's face as he turned to face them. "We can have our battle now."

Idelle was silent for a moment. Both Nat and Amon could tell that she wasn't pleased. To Nat's surprise, a worried and slightly intimidated look crossed Amon's face.

_Aw, crap, now he's pissed her off…_ Amon thought. The mere thought of an angry Idelle scared him more than Gravity Master Brago, one of the strongest mamodo back home, and that was saying a lot.

"So, you've made your decision," Idelle said, without a hint of emotion. She opened the book, which started glowing brightly. "But I have no intention of waiting for your mamodo." Nat's eyes widened. "I meant what I said: we will have the battle right **here **and **now.**"

"Wh-what?"

"Amon," Idelle said. Amon nodded and put his hands out, forming a triangle with his index fingers and thumbs.

"Let us begin," Idelle said. The warning in Nat's head intensified.

_It's coming! _he thought, tensing every muscle in his body, waiting for the spell to be cast.

"Baberu!"

* * *

Dante sat on the nurse's desk, swinging his legs and humming softly. The nurse's office was nice and cosy, with a bed against the wall opposite the door, and a large window with white curtains. The walls were white, as well as the ceiling, and the bed sheets, and there was a bookcase, water dispenser and beverage machine on the left wall, opposite to the desk on which Dante was seated. It was very peaceful and quiet, and had Dante not known better, he'd think this was heaven.

The nurse had had other matters to take care of, so she had left him alone here. But he didn't mind too much; he was too pleased with himself. His little performance earlier had allowed him to stay in the classroom with Nat and had probably saved his book owner from getting in trouble. It was almost as if he'd paid Nat back for letting him sleep in the bed.

Almost.

Dante felt as if he still owed Nat quite a lot. After all, Nat was nice to him, made him breakfast, listened to him talk about the Mamodo World, and the current King of said world, let him stay in the apartment, and he'd helped Dante win his first battle. On top of that, Nat was nice and he never lost his temper with Dante, and played with him, and was nice, and let him play with the other kids, and helped him when there was no escape from those scary girls, and was nice, and actually cared what Dante thought, and had given him a piggyback ride on the way here… Did I forget to mention he was nice?

The sudden loud beeping of the alarm system interrupted Dante's train of thought. He looked around, wondering where it was coming from, and saw a flashing red light on the wall behind him, under which was a large label that read FIRE.

"F-FIRE!?" Dante yelled in alarm. He jumped off the desk and sprang out the door without stopping.

The nurse's office was on the first floor, so as Dante came out, he saw swarms of people coming down the steps from the second floor and going down the steps to the ground floor. He looked around desperately, but he couldn't find Nat anywhere.

_Oh, no!_ he panicked silently. _What if my book's in the fire? _Then he gasped. _What if _**Nat's** _in the fire!? _

Nat was pretty cool, but he was only human, and Dante was pretty sure that he wouldn't survive being roasted alive, no matter how cool he was. He tried to ask the students rushing by, but they all brushed him off as soon as they heard who he was looking for. The last kid he asked just snapped at him.

"What, that freak of nature? Why should I care where he is?"

"How can you say that?!" Dante yelled, his worry getting the better of him. "You don't care that he could burn to death?!"

The kid looked at Dante funny, and then he started laughing. Dante nearly went ballistic on him, but before he could do anything the kid spoke.

"What are you talking about?" he said. "There's no fire."

"…what?"

"I don't know where you're from, kid, but round here we call this a fire drill. It's to make sure we act properly in case there _is _a fire." The kid gestured to the orderly lines of people streaming out of classrooms and down stairs. "Do you _honestly _think that we'd be this calm if there was an _actual_ fire?"

Dante blinked.

"Oh."

"Don't worry, it's not uncommon to find people who don't understand fire drills," the kid said. "Since you're a visitor, you don't have to follow it. You can just stay wherever you were before."

Dante nodded, and the kid turned and continued down the stairs.

_A fire drill_, Dante thought. Now he felt like an idiot. He would probably be excused for panicking – after all, he _was _seven years old. But that didn't make him feel any less of a fool.

_And here I was thinking Nat was in danger, _he thought, heading back to the nurse's office. _He's gonna wet himself laughing._

* * *

"Baberu!"

Nat ducked as another triangular beam zoomed over his head, barely dodging it. The first time Amon had fired, the beam's speed took Nat by surprise, and now there was a huge hole on his left shirt sleeve, the edges charred from the heat, and a burn on his arm. Only the warnings that rang off in his head were keeping him out of the way of those beams, and sometimes even that wasn't enough.

He jumped down the staircase, taking them three at a time, with Amon right on his tail and Idelle not far behind. The headmaster's study was on the top floor, the fifth out of five, so thankfully no one else saw what was happening, save the poor secretary who almost had a heart attack when the end of her pencil was obliterated.

"Baberu!"

He shifted to the left, and the beam passed by so close he could feel the heat on his face. Despite the predicament he was in now, Nat was fairly pleased to see that the fourth floor was deserted.

_Only two more floors to go…_

He reached the stair case and descended with a Herculean leap as Amon fired another beam that smashed into the ground where he had been standing a second ago.

_The third floor is empty too, _Nat thought, and a smile crept onto his face. _Heh, I bet she never suspected that everyone would respond so quickly._

"Amon," Idelle called, and Amon whipped his head round. "Why are you holding back?"

"He's a human," Amon replied simply. "Using Baberu's full power would be a waste. And besides," he added, "I sense strange power from him."

"He has a strange power?" Idelle enquired.

"No, he has two," Amon stated. "One of them I recognised instantly, because the book owner of our current King had it. But the other is… slightly lesser known, so I didn't realise until he started dodging with its help." He turned his head to face forward. "If I used Baberu's full power, he'd still be able to dodge it."

"Tch," Idelle exhaled, annoyed. "Then aim properly, boy! Baberu!" Amon fired the beam at Nat's feet, but he sidestepped it yet again. Amon gritted his teeth in irritation.

_Ugh_. _With the power I'm sensing, if his mamodo is even slightly above average… _

A smile crept onto his face despite himself.

_This battle may be a little interesting…_

* * *

Nat ducked into his classroom, sidestepping another beam which smashed into the window in front of him, sending broken glass flying, some of which cut him. He flung himself over to his desk and picked up his bookcase, searching inside for the yellow spellbook.

_Here it is! _he thought triumphantly, tucking it under his arm. He ducked under a table as another beam flew in, and decided not to stay in the class lest he ended up destroying it. Holding the book tightly and close to his body, he ducked under Amon's swipe and jumped down the stairs with another large leap. He stumbled for a bit, then continued moving.

_Dante, wait for me outside the nurse's office._

* * *

When Nat got there, he found Dante standing and pacing worriedly outside the door. Dante looked up as Nat reached him.

"Nat, what's the problem?" he asked urgently. Then he suddenly gasped and went rigid.

"Nat, we have to hurry, there's a mamodo –"

"I know," Nat said, cutting him off. "That's why I hit the fire alarm, to get everyone out. They're here to fight us."

"Indeed we are," Idelle said, as she and Amon stopped a few metres in front of them. Amon and Dante got a proper look at each other.

"Ah!" Dante gasped. "You're –"

"You look familiar…" Amon said thoughtfully.

"Dante, you know him?" Nat asked.

"Yeah, he lived in my area back in the Mamodo World. He was the strongest in the area," Dante replied shakily. "But to find him now…"

"Hey, enough talking already," Amon snapped. "Unless you want me to fire at your partner again."

Dante was slightly taken aback by this. He looked at Nat and saw the burn and the scratches from the glass. Then he got mad.

"I understand if you shoot at me," he started quietly, looking down. "After all, I'm a mamodo, and this is our battle." Then he looked up, and Amon was taken aback by the look in his eyes.

"But if you hurt Nat or any other human here…" he continued. Then he exploded with rage.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

Suddenly he was right in front of Amon. Before anyone else could react, Dante smashed his fist into Amon with a force which would have probably broken all of a human's ribs.

"Whoa!" Amon exclaimed, blocking the punch by crossing his arms in front of him; however, he was thrown back with such force that he slammed through three walls before being embedded in the back of a classroom. He heard a gasp, and turned to see a student who had slept off and hadn't heard the alarm staring at him with huge, scared eyes. He pulled himself out of the wall and returned the stare with his own hard one.

"If you know what's good for you, kid, you'll get out of here now," he said coldly. The student complied with gusto.

"Amon, are you all right?" Idelle's voice called. He looked ahead to see her walking up to him.

"Of course," Amon grinned. "Just wasn't expecting him to be that strong. I was just surprised."

_As I thought, this is going to be very entertaining…_

"Nat! Let's go!" Dante yelled. Nat grinned and opened the spellbook.

"Yeah. Let's show 'em what we're made of!"


	6. Level 6: Versus Amon!

"Hmph," Amon smirked. "I hope that punch was satisfying, because from now on you're not going to touch me." Dante just stared back at him, the look in his eyes far from gone.

"Idelle, I'm ready!" Amon yelled, forming the triangle with his index fingers and thumbs.

"Good," Idelle replied, and her book started glowing.

"Dante, be careful," Nat warned. "His spell is extremely fast, and it's not something you want to get hit by. Trust me. And I get the feeling that he isn't just bragging about his power either."

"Got it!" Dante nodded.

"Baberu!" Idelle chanted, and Amon fired the triangular beam.

"Farga!" Nat yelled, and a star appeared and shot a yellow beam at the one coming towards them.

"Hmph," Amon sneered. He shifted his hands to the left, then to the right.

Just before the beams met, Amon's turned left at a 45 degree angle, and then turned all the way right, hitting the side of Dante's spell and neutralising it.

"What?" Nat exclaimed. _The spell can be redirected? _

"Tch," Amon said, "is that all you got?" Amon's beam straightened out and smashed into Dante's chest, knocking him back into the wall behind them.

"Ugh…" Dante murmured, hitting the floor.

"Dante!" Nat yelled.

"I'm fine!" Dante replied, getting up and shaking off the pain.

"You won't be for long," Amon said, and rushed at him.

"Ah, Dante!" _Move back! He's coming at you!_

Dante immediately complied, but he wasn't fast enough to completely avoid the attack. Amon's nails sliced into his skin, leaving a mark on his cheek.

"Dante!" _Aim at him now!_

"Right!" Dante aimed, and two extra stars appeared and trained themselves at Amon, who was still coming at him.

"Farga!" The combined force of the three beams knocked Amon back quite a bit. He flew back and landed just in front of Idelle.

"Ow!" he hissed, and got up.

"That was your fault for rushing in so recklessly," Idelle stated, her voice devoid of pity. "Now aim at the book owner." Amon quickly obeyed.

"Baberu!"

"Ah!" Nat gasped, sidestepping it narrowly, and raising the book out of reach.

"Fool, it isn't that easy!" Amon smirked, jerking his hands up. The beam changed direction and flew up at the book.

"AHH, DANTE!" Nat yelled. _AIM AT THE BOOK! _Dante quickly aimed.

"FARGA!" The beam was intercepted by Dante's, and the force knocked Nat off-balance. He brought the book down with him and kept it close to his body.

"Impressive," Idelle said. "You made use of the fact that a mamodo can't burn their own book, and used it to your advantage. That was quite an original solution. Baberu!"

"AAAHH!" Dante jumped in front of the beam and took the hit. It nearly blasted him back, but he stood firm. Dante then sprang forward and threw a jab at Amon, but he easily sidestepped, caught Dante's hand and smashed his fist into Dante's stomach, causing Dante to cough up blood. He then kicked Dante back with a smirk on his face.

Dante hit the floor hard in front of Nat, who was now on his feet.

"Dante, are you okay?" Nat asked, rushing to Dante's side. Dante rolled over onto his back and gave a weak thumbs up, then got to his feet.

"So you're still able to stand…" Amon said.

"Amon, I don't have all day," Idelle said irritably. "Hurry up and finish them."

Amon nodded and rushed forward.

"Dante!" Nat yelled. _Aim at him now! _

"Right!" Dante aimed quickly, and the stars trained themselves on Amon.

"Farga!" The beams shot out at Amon's approaching figure, but he easily dodged all of them without slowing down.

"You know what your problem is?" Amon said, almost conversationally, as he smashed Dante upwards with an uppercut and jumped up after him. "Your attacks are too straightforward." He kept up the attack with a roundhouse kick that sent Dante flying down towards the floor at a diagonal, further down the hallway.

"It's too easy too see what you're planning to do…" he continued, forming the triangle and aiming his hands at Dante.

"Baberu!" The beam slammed into Dante just before he hit the floor, propelling him further down the hallway, towards an open utility closet.

"…and to counter it." He put his right hand forward, aiming at Dante. Idelle saw what he had set up and read the second spell.

"Shurido!" A white cube as large as a man's torso was shot out of Amon's palm and towards Dante, who was now almost in the closet. It wasn't very fast, so normally it would be easy to dodge, but Dante was in an enclosed space and was still in the air.

"AHH!" Dante yelled, his eyes open wide. _I CAN'T DODGE THAT THING!_

"HOLY –" Nat gasped. "DANTE!" _SET A STAR ON YOUR BACK! NOW! _A star appeared behind Dante and attached itself to his back, the hole facing out and up.

"FARGA!" The beam's force pushed Dante down and forward, under the approaching spell. But he didn't get far enough. The spell smashed into the closet behind him, and the force threw him forward hard onto the floor.

* * *

The courtyard was filled with students lined up outside, waiting for the order by the principal to resume classes. Not that anyone was in any hurry to get back. In fact, most of the students would have been happy to stay outside for as long as possible.

As the minutes passed, the students eventually abandoned the precise, orderly fashion they were gathered in and spread out across the courtyard, some going to their regular spots, some just sitting around and waiting for the principal to give the order, but praying that he would forget – after all, it isn't every day you get an extra break from lessons. Other than the low murmuring of the students, it was peaceful and quiet.

BOOM!

Or not.

The students all jumped as they heard an explosion coming from the main school building. Some could see a thick cloud of smoke billowing from the left side of the building, at the first floor level.

"Holy –"

"Did you hear that?"

"It came from the first floor!"

"Look! There's smoke coming out of the side!"

"Maybe there really was a fire…"

"Good thing we all got out then, huh?"

Seeing this, Hayate decided to do a quick head count, to make sure all his students were safe.

_27, 28, 29, 30… 30?_

Hayate counted again, but he only got 30 students. He wondered who was missing.

_Lisa? No… Satoshi? No, he's there…Nat?_

He looked around, but Nat was nowhere to be found.

_Oh God, _he realised. _Nat's still in there!_

* * *

The area was obscured by the smoke from the explosion, so Nat, Amon and Idelle couldn't see what had happened, although Idelle and Amon were fairly sure and, judging from the loud explosion they had heard, Nat could just about imagine what the spell had done. Dante was very close to the spell when it had collided, so he was also hidden from sight. Nat tried to contact him, but there was no answer.

_Oh, no…_

When the smoke cleared, there was a gaping hole where the closet and some of the floor used to be. Dante was hanging on to the edge for dear life.

"Ah!" Nat gasped. "Dante!" He ran towards the hole.

"Baberu."

He halted and lifted the book just in time, as the beam smashed into the ground in front of him. If he had kept moving forward, both he and the book would have been hit.

"Wha-" He turned around to find Idelle with the open spellbook and Amon aiming at him.

"Never turn your back on a battle, fool," Amon said.

"Did you honestly believe we would just let you help him up when you've left yourself open like that?" Idelle asked. "That would be extremely foolish. Now hand over the book."

"Ugh…" Nat dithered. He looked forward, and then looked back at the hole, where Dante was – correction, where Dante _had been _hanging on. "What the – Dante?!" he yelled.

"It wasn't his fault you lost, boy. We never intended to lose," Idelle said.

"No, Dante's not here anymore! He's gone!"

"What?"

Suddenly, Amon received a roundhouse kick to the face from behind courtesy of Dante, which sent him off balance and into the wall, leaving a dent in it.

"How's that for straightforward?" Dante yelled.

"Fool!" Amon growled, forming the triangle and aiming his hands at Dante.

"Baberu!"

"Whoa!" Dante exclaimed, ducking and narrowly avoiding the beam. Amon shifted his hands, and the beam came right back and slammed into Dante's back. But he didn't stop there. He began shifting his hands every which way, and the beam responded in kind, zooming around Dante and hitting him from all directions. Dante yelled in pain, crossing his arms to protect himself as the beam tore into him.

"Stop hurting him…" Nat whispered. Amon didn't stop it. In fact, he sped it up.

"Stop it!" Nat repeated, louder this time. Amon ignored him.

"STOP IT!" Nat yelled, throwing himself towards Amon and smashing a fist into his face. In his shock, Amon's hands separated, and he lost his concentration. The beam stopped hitting Dante and disappeared. The punch wasn't as strong as Dante's, but it did knock Amon off balance for a second. Nat lunged forward, carrying Dante, and put some distance between them and Amon.

"Dante, are you all right?" Nat asked as he set Dante down. Dante nodded. Nat then bonked Dante over the head.

"Ow!" Dante rubbed his head, which now had a bump on it. "What was that for?"

"Don't _ever _do that again, got it?" Nat said fiercely. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

By now, Amon had shaken off the pain. He steadied himself and looked over at Nat and Dante.

"You're pretty strong for a human," Amon commented. "Didn't expect you to actually attack me."

"Amon, what are you doing?" Idelle snapped. "Focus!"

"Right," Amon said quickly, aiming the triangle sign at Nat and Dante again.

"Baberu!" The beam angled down and hit the ground between them, shocking them into action. They got up and started backing away, to put more distance between themselves and Amon, who was now approaching.

"Farga!" A star appeared and shot a beam at Amon, but he simply bent out of the way, without stopping.

"Baberu." Nat shifted to his left, narrowly avoiding the triangular beam which slammed into the floor behind them.

"Farga!" This time, the star shot over Amon's shoulder, at Idelle.

_That way, Amon has to move back to protect her._

But Amon didn't make any attempt to stop it. He didn't need to. She simply moved her body, and the beam sailed past her, out the gaping hole behind her. Amon just kept advancing like nothing had happened.

"Baberu." The beam hit Dante's arm, redirected and hit Nat's leg, causing Nat to stumble and almost fall.

"Farga!" The star shot at the ground, creating a small crater. Amon simply stepped over it.

"Farga!" The star shot at the ceiling above Amon, causing a chunk to fall down upon him. He just snapped his fist up and smashed it into small fragments.

"Farga!" Amon dodged the beam again and started to move faster.

"Farga!" He dodged again…

"Farga!" And again…

"Farga!" And again. And each time he sped up.

_Crap… _Nat thought. _This guy won't stop coming! And our spell isn't touching him!_

Then Amon stopped and spoke. "Where do you think you're going?"

Nat's back hit the wall. They'd backed into a dead end. They were trapped.

"Looks like you've sussed it out," Amon said, raising his right hand. "This battle is over."

"Shurido!"

The white square was a bit larger this time. It still wasn't fast, but it was unavoidable from the position Nat and Dante were in.

"Dante!" _Aim at the spell! If we can't dodge it, we'll have to break it!_

"Right!" Dante aimed at the center of the square.

"Farga!" The beam smashed into the spell, but it didn't do anything.

_We need more stars!_

Two more stars appeared and trained themselves on the approaching spell.

"Farga!" The three beams slammed into the square, but they just managed to slow it down.

_More stars!_

_No can do! _Dante's voice replied. _I can only control three at a time!_

"What?" Nat yelled. _Then we can't stop this thing…_

"Can't we create an exit?" Dante suggested, pointing at the wall.

"No, the spell's too close! We can't avoid it in time!" Nat said, getting filled with despair.

_If that spell hits, I might be okay, but Nat won't survive!_ Dante thought._ I can't let that happen! I have to push it back!_

The yellow book began to glow, without Nat putting any heart power in it.

_I have to!_

Nat looked in the book, and saw that he could read the words on the second page.

"D-Dante!" he yelled. "There's a new spell in the book!"

"Huh?"

_What? _Amon thought.

"We still have a chance!" Nat yelled excitedly. "Aim at the spell! Hurry!"

Dante aimed at the square, which was now almost in front of them.

"The second spell…" Nat chanted, and the book started glowing like crazy.

"Dame Farga!"

Three more stars appeared, and the six stars arranged themselves, three up, three to the side, and shot beams which crossed over each other to form a large 3x3 laser grid, which zoomed forward, towards the white square.

_It's a laser wall! _Nat realised. _It's fast!_ The wall collided with the square and smashed through it. _And strong!_

"What the –" Amon exclaimed. _It's stronger than Shurido!_

"We blocked it!" Dante grinned.

"Yes!" Nat yelled, punching the air in triumph. "Now let's show these guys a thing or two!"

"Shit!" Amon swore, and quickly formed the triangle sign as the wall advanced on him.

"Baberu!" The triangular beam shot out. Amon shifted his hands, and the beam headed for the stars at the side, slamming into the lowest, then jerked up and hit the other two off balance.

"Ah!" Nat gasped. "They're trying to break it up!"

"Not yet!" Dante started flailing his arms around. The stars responded in kind, each with two or more beams shooting out, and tore up the area. Amon shielded himself as he was caught in the attack.

"Aaaagh!" he yelled.

"Amon!" Idelle cried.

"Gotcha!" Nat grinned. Amon saw an opening in the attack and sprang back, towards Idelle.

"We have to use the second spell!" she shouted.

"But it didn't work!"

"We don't have a choice! Shurido!" The square came out bigger than ever.

"Dante!" Nat yelled.

"Right!" The stars all aimed at the approaching square.

"FARGA!"

The six beams smashed into the square, halting its movement. The spells struggled for dominance.

"AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Amon and Dante yelled simultaneously, both trying to break through the other's spell. Then Amon's spell started moving back. It retreated towards Amon and Idelle.

"No!" Amon yelled. "I can't lose now!"

The spell exploded right in front of them, bringing up a veil of smoke. Nat and Dante couldn't see whether the spell hit or not.

"Did we do it?" Nat muttered.

"Ah!" Dante said. "I can't feel his presence anymore!"

"Eh?" _Did their book burn that fast?_

The smoke cleared, and it was then that Nat and Dante saw that there was no one standing there.

"Th-they're gone!" Dante exclaimed.

Suddenly, they both heard the sound of a fire engine.

"Come on, Dante, let's get out of here," Nat said, getting up and hobbling towards the stairs.

* * *

Below, on the ground, some distance away…

"You cut it pretty close today, Amon," Idelle said, closing the spellbook. "If we hadn't jumped out when we did, you would be back in the Mamodo World right now."

"Yeah…" Amon muttered.

"Maybe your reflexes need sharpening," Idelle said, with a wicked edge to her voice. "I've been too lenient on you, haven't I?"

"What?" Amon exclaimed.

"We shall intensify your training," Idelle decided. "Your reflexes have dulled. We start as soon as we get back."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Amon yelled. "We just finished a battle! At least let me rest up first!"

"Resting is for the weak," Idelle snapped, lightly smacking Amon over the head. "Mamodo should not tire so easily."

"Easy for you to say…" Amon muttered under his breath. "You're not the one who was carved up by lasers."

"What was that?"

"Ah, n-nothing."

* * *

The firemen checked Nat and Dante for third degree burns as soon as they came through the door. Their cuts and burns were treated quickly, even though Dante made a huge fuss, protesting that he didn't need to be treated. Eventually, he had to be caught and subdued by tying his hands together, and dragged into the treatment area.

There was no evidence of an actual fire, although the entire place looked pretty messed up. Since Nat was the only student left in the school, he was blamed for the explosions and sentenced to spending extra time after school helping to fix and pay for damages. He tried to argue that he was the victim here, but the principal was having none of it. All this chaos took up quite some time, so normal lessons didn't continue, and the rest of the school day – or what was left of it – was spent outside.

"Ah, today sure was something, wasn't it, Dante?" Nat commented as the two headed home, Dante sitting on Nat's shoulders.

"Stupid paramedics…" Dante muttered, pulling off all his bandaging. "I _told _them I didn't need treatment! All they did was make it worse!" He rubbed his arms and remembered the pain – the horrible, horrible iodine-induced pain. Nat just laughed.

"…Nat…" Dante said, after some silence. "We didn't beat those guys, did we? I'm pretty sure they escaped…"

"Yeah, maybe," Nat replied. "But we'll beat 'em next time."

"Heh, you sure about that?" Dante said.

"Of course!" Nat grinned. "Besides, the important thing is that we survived this battle. And now," he said, tilting the yellow book, "we have a new spell! We've got another weapon in our arsenal!"

"Yeah!" Dante yelled enthusiastically, getting excited. "I'll definitely become the King! Right, Nat?"

"Yep," Nat replied. "Definitely."

"Ah!" Dante said, remembering something. "By the way, Nat, do you think we could buy some fish curry on the way?"

"What? No! There's no such thing as fish curry!"

"Is too! See?" He pointed at an Indian shop, where they sold fish curry – their best dish, apparently. Nat made a face.

"Euch! What are you gonna do with _that_?"

"Eat it, of course!"

"Heck no! Why would you do that to yourself? That's disgusting!"

"It's not disgusting, it's yummy!" Dante protested. "Don't I deserve a gift after surviving such a harsh battle?"

"Yes, Dante. You deserve a gift. Not food poisoning."

"Aw, come ooooooonnnnn! _Pleeeeeeeeeeeaaase?_"

Nat sighed and entered the shop. "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you."


	7. Level 7: Weapon and Meister

"Dame Farga!"

The six stars appeared, arranged themselves, and formed the laser grid wall.

"Okay, now!" Nat instructed. "Version Two!"

Dante nodded and started flailing his arms around. The stars responded similarly, each with two or more beams shooting out. The attack was working perfectly.

That is, until one of the beams from one star knocked another star off balance.

_Uh-oh._

This small mistake started a chain reaction, resulting in all the stars moving out of sync. The harmony of Dame Farga Version Two had been broken yet again.

"Ngh…" Dante muttered, gritting his teeth in frustration. "Why can't I get it right? WHY?" He smashed his fist into the ground, leaving a surprisingly large crater.

"Whoa, take it easy!" Nat said. He got down on one knee, to Dante's level. "Look, I know it's hard learning to control the spell, especially when you're used to controlling only three stars at a time. You can't expect to get it right the first time you try."

"But I did," Dante pointed out.

"That was a state of emergency, it doesn't count." Seeing that Dante was unconvinced, Nat sighed and went on. "Let's take a break and eat, then we'll try the spell again."

"Okay…" Dante said half-heartedly. He sat down as Nat unpacked the food they had brought.

"Here," Nat said, handing Dante a sardine sandwich, which he gladly took and started eating. Nat took out his own BLT and sat down on the ground.

Nat and Dante were in a wide open field covered with grass, with a few large boulders, and mountains in the distance. The battle the day before had been pretty harsh, so the two decided to use the weekend to train and master their new spell. Nat was dressed in a black V-neck T-shirt, a white vest under it, blue jeans, and white trainers.

"What you did yesterday, when Amon tried to break up the barrier, damaged him pretty badly," Nat had explained earlier, at the apartment. "If we can learn to control this new spell like that, we'll become a lot stronger."

_Easier said than done, _Nat thought. _We've tried it at least five times now, but he still isn't used to controlling six stars at the same time. And Dante's getting more and more frustrated. _He looked over at Dante, who was munching his sandwich slowly, lost in thought. _If we keep going like this, we won't be able to master it today._

Having finished his sandwich, Nat lay down on the ground, looking up at the sky.

_Ah, well. At least it's a beautiful day. Hopefully no mamodo are gonna come find us…_

* * *

Two figures were walking out of the city, past the sign that indicated they were leaving, into the outskirts. One of them was a boy about ten years old, with green eyes and brown hair, which was brushed to the right. He was wearing an open yellow jacket with a black outline over a plain blue shirt, red trousers and black shoes. He was looking at a map of the area. The other was a guy about fifteen years old, with red eyes and black hair crammed under a backwards-facing baseball cap, with a bit sticking out the front. He wore black jeans and a black sweater over a white shirt, and under his arm he was carrying a black book with a yellow border on the cover, which also had the hourglass and five circles on it.

"So our next opponents are somewhere beyond this town, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," the boy replied. "I keep sensing power coming from this direction, and according to the map, there's a wide expanse of wilderness beyond this place, which makes sense if they're training."

"How tough are they, exactly?"

"Judging from the power I'm feeling, they're pretty strong." A grin spread on the boy's face. "But it's nothing we can't handle."

"Yeah," the older guy said, grinning as well. "Because you're…"

"An elite. And I'm never going to lose."

* * *

Nat and Dante both sighed as they walked across the field. They had tried the spell another three times, but Dante still hadn't been able to successfully control the Version Two.

"Well, looks like we're coming back here tomorrow," Nat said. He looked over and saw a depressed Dante with shoulders drooped and head bent low.

"Hey, how about I buy some fish curry on the way back?"

Nothing. From the way Dante had wolfed down the disgusting stuff, Nat would have thought he couldn't live without it. In fact, when Nat had seen – and _smelled _– the curry, he had refused to buy it, but when he turned around, he found that Dante had somehow stolen his wallet and was paying for a dish at the counter.

_I _still_ don't know how he did that,_ Nat thought, remembering the sheepish grin Dante had given when he returned the wallet.

"Nat…" Dante muttered, catching Nat's attention. He looked over to see Dante twiddling his fingers worriedly. "What if I can't get any better than this? I mean, I can't even control my second spell properly…"

"D-don't think like that!" Nat said loudly. "Of course you'll get stronger! You just need time to get used to controlling more than three at a time. You'll get it right."

"Really?"

"Yeah! Today was just not a good day. We'll definitely get it tomorrow!"

Dante was silent for a moment. Then he nodded.

"Thanks, Nat. I –" He suddenly stopped. Nat noticed and looked to see him standing still.

"Dante? Something wrong?" Nat asked.

"It's a mamodo… And he's looking for a fight," Dante replied slowly. Then he turned to his left and looked at the bushes beside them. "You can come out now."

Nat turned to see two boys emerge from the bushes.

"Wow," the smaller one said. "I didn't think you'd be able to pinpoint my location. Guess that means a surprise attack is out of the question." He put a hand on his chest. "Let's introduce ourselves. My name is Buki." He pointed a thumb at the older boy, who gave a small two-fingered salute. "And this is my partner, Mark."

"And you came here to fight us, right?" Nat asked.

"Ah, you're quick!" Buki answered, smiling. "But there's no need for violence. Just hand over your book and we'll leave peacefully."

"Sorry," Nat said, "but if you want this book, you'll have to take it by force."

Buki smiled. "Heh, fair enough. It would be no fun if you'd just given up!" Then he leapt forward, towards them.

"Dante!"

"Right!"

Dante aimed as Nat took out the spellbook, and a star appeared in front of them, facing Buki.

"Farga!" The star shot a beam right at Buki, but he didn't try to stop or dodge.

_He's not going to try to avoid it?_

Buki's partner, Mark, took out his spellbook, which started glowing brightly.

"Poruk."

Buki swung his arm up, hitting the beam, and it split in two.

"What?" Nat yelled. _How did he – _

"Hmph!" Buki swung his arm back down, and in place of his arm was a long, slightly curved scythe blade, extending from his shoulder.

_His arm turned into a blade! _Nat realised. Then he also realised that Buki hadn't stopped, and had gotten in front of him.

"YAAAH!" Buki yelled, bringing the blade down upon Nat before he could react. But Dante jumped in and intercepted it, taking the hit to his shoulder.

"What the –" Buki yelped, as Dante held his arms in place.

"AAAAHH!" Dante yelled, and threw Buki away. Three stars were aimed at him before he touched the ground.

"Farga!"

The three beams knocked the breath out of him, and sent him flying back to Mark.

"Ahh…" he muttered, standing up shakily.

"_What _are you _doing_?" Dante said angrily, with a ferocious look in his eyes. "Your opponent is **me**."

Both Buki and Mark were taken aback by this.

_Ah…_ Buki thought. _His eyes…_ Then a smile spread on his face.

"You really are strong," he said. "I guess I underestimated you. Sorry."

Then both mamodo rushed forward at each other, meeting in the middle, and exchanged a flurry of hits. Dante blocked Buki's swipe with his arm and threw a jab into his stomach, which threw him back. He landed on his back, but quickly got up and saw Dante rushing towards him.

"YAH!" Dante yelled, launching a kick at Buki's side, but he blocked Dante's kick with his transformed arm.

"Hmph!" he muttered. "Too easy!" Then he noticed Dante was smiling.

_Eh?_

"Farga!" Nat yelled, and the star behind Buki fired a beam at his legs, knocking him off balance. Dante then swung around and kicked Buki back with his other leg. Buki landed on his back and skidded backward, then flipped up onto his feet.

_He's good! _Buki thought, wiping his mouth. _I can't beat him._

"Looks like you're having a bit of trouble," Mark remarked.

"Just a little," Buki replied. "Looks like you're gonna have to help me out."

_What? _Nat thought.

"Fine," Mark sighed, and read their second spell.

"Scyzo Poruk."

Buki back flipped high into the air and emitted a blinding light.

_What the – _

Mark put the book in a pouch on his belt, then raised his hand, and a scythe with a long, black handle and a black-and-yellow blade three feet long fell into it. He swirled it around a bit then brought it down and held it in both hands.

"Let's go," he said. Then he rushed forward.

"Ah!" Dante yelped, as Mark started swinging the scythe at him. He just barely dodged Mark's relentless assault, ducking and bending out of the way of the blade.

_He's unnaturally good with this thing! _Dante noted.

Then an alarm went off in Nat's head.

"Ah!" Nat gasped. _Dante, come back now!_

_Hah?_

Just then, Mark tripped Dante up with the scythe handle. Dante fell flat on his back, and then opened his eyes just in time to see the blade coming down onto his head.

"WHOA!" he yelled, and slid through Mark's legs as the blade sank into the ground where his head had been just a minute ago. He flipped up behind Mark and grabbed the bottom of the handle, trying to take the scythe away.

"Huh?" Mark looked behind him and saw Dante tugging on the scythe handle.

"Tch," he exhaled. "Get lost!" He swung the scythe around with Dante still holding on, and threw him off, towards Nat. Dante flipped and landed on his feet.

"Dante!" _He's coming!_

"Right!" Dante aimed at Mark, who was rushing at them.

"Dame Farga!"

The 3x3 laser wall assembled and zoomed towards Mark.

"Hmph," he exhaled. He stopped, set the blade end of the scythe on the ground, and waited for the wall to get closer. When it was almost right in front of him, he shifted the blade end to the side and closed his eyes.

"Scyzo Buki Style…" he muttered, and then swung the blade up, knocking the stars at the side of the barrier off balance, and jumped up and swung across, knocking off the other three on top.

"Knight's Move!"

Whirling the scythe across threw Mark forward, past the broken barrier, and he descended upon Nat and Dante. They both jumped back as Mark swung the scythe down, and the blade sank deep into the ground.

"Ah…" Dante gasped shakily. "He dodged our second spell so easily…"

"Yeah," Nat replied. "Too easily."

Something wasn't right. Mark was handling the scythe too well. Nat had been watching the way Mark fought Dante, and he couldn't help but notice how easily Mark had kept up.

_It doesn't add up,_ Nat thought. _It takes years to master a scythe, or any weapon, that skilfully. He's only a bit older than me, so unless he started training when he was two, there's no way he would be that good with a scythe. And even the best scythe wielders would have trouble dodging Dame Farga so easily._

"Stay here, Dante."

The yellow spellbook fell into Dante's hands, and he looked up and saw Nat walking forward, towards Mark.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Dante exclaimed.

"I want to check something," Nat replied. "Just trust me." He approached Mark, who was watching him with interest, and stopped a few feet in front of him.

"Hmm, so you want to tussle, eh?" Mark quipped, raising an eyebrow. Nat said nothing, but took a battle-ready stance and beckoned Mark to come at him.

_He's giving me the 'let's do this' sign,_ Mark noticed, amused. _Then again, with that calm look in his eye, he isn't just some cocky weakling. _He held the scythe in both hands and rushed at Nat.

Dante gasped as Mark started swinging the scythe at Nat with incredible speed and ferocity, but Nat was able to dodge all his swings and slashes, making small movements without hitting back. Mark got annoyed by this and picked up his attacking pace, but Nat had no problem keeping up with him.

"Whoa!" Dante breathed, his eyes shining as he watched Nat completely avoiding Mark's assault.

"Tch!" Mark exhaled, irritation clear in his voice. He swung the scythe up and brought it down upon Nat in a vicious helm-splitter. Nat stepped closer, under Mark's guard, and stopped his attack by grabbing both of his hands.

"Heh, you're pretty good," Mark said. Nat said nothing, simply looking at him. Mark tried to wrench away, but Nat held him in check. This stalemate went on for about a second before Nat released him, and they both jumped back, away from each other, and Nat landed beside Dante.

"I knew it," Nat muttered, holding his hand out for the book. Dante quickly handed to him. "His hands aren't calloused. People who train and wield scythes, or any kind of weapon, would have rough, calloused hands, toughened from having to swing their weapon around."

"But what does that mean?" Dante inquired.

"It means that those aren't his own scythe skills acquired from hard training," Nat replied.

Dante's eyes widened slightly. A look of surprise also came onto Mark's face, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Well, that's impressive," Mark said admiringly. "But then how can I fight like this?" He started whirling the scythe around in an impressive display of skill.

"Yeah, how can he –" Dante started, then gasped as the realisation hit him.

"It's the spell!" he realised.

"Exactly," Nat replied. "Scyzo Poruk does two things: it transforms the mamodo into a scythe, and grants the wielder incredible scythe-wielding skills."

There was some silence for a moment.

"Wow," Scythe-Buki finally said. "You're really smart. Most mamodo teams don't even realise I'm the scythe." The scythe blade glowed with every word he said. "But how exactly is that going to help you?"

"Now I know exactly how to beat you!" Nat replied. "Dante, follow my lead! We're gonna beat them with their own power!"

Dante nodded, and together, at the same time, they sprang forward.


	8. Level 8: You Can Do It

"Now we can put an end to this battle," Nat said. "Ready, Dante?"

"Yeah!" Dante replied. "Let's go!"

And the two sprang forward, towards Mark, who raised Scythe-Buki in anticipation. Nat and Dante split up and attacked together, from both sides. Mark turned to Dante, who got to him first, blocked his punch and pushed him back. This gave Nat enough time to get behind him.

"Farga!" Nat yelled, and the stars that Dante had moved behind Mark shot out beams which blew up the ground under Mark and made him lose his balance. Nat took the opportunity and grabbed onto the scythe handle. However, Mark still had one foot on the ground. He spun around and kicked Nat away, then flipped the scythe over, with Nat still hanging on to the end, and threw him off into the ground, and then jumped back to get away from both of them.

"Nat!" Dante yelled, rushing over to his book owner. Nat sat up and wiped a trickle of blood off his mouth, then held up a hand for Dante to stop.

"I'm fine!" he replied. "Don't worry about me! Just stick to the plan! We have to get that scythe no matter what!"

"Ah…" Dante hesitated, then nodded and rushed at Mark. "Got it!"

_That's right… _Nat thought, as he got to his feet shakily. _Scyzo Poruk gives the wielder of the scythe incredible weapon skills. If we take the scythe, we'll easily be able to beat Mark and burn that book!_

Mark blocked Dante's attack and shoved him back again.

"Take the scythe…?" Mark wondered aloud, and then a smile spread on his face.

_So that's what they're trying to do…_ Mark thought. _Smart plan, but…_

Dante rushed at Mark again and started throwing punches at crazy speed, all of which Mark blocked. Mark then swiped at Dante, but he ducked, got under Mark's guard and tripped him up.

"Whoa!" Mark yelled. As he fell, Scythe-Buki slipped out of his grip, and Dante jumped forward and caught the handle.

"Got it!" Dante yelled triumphantly. Then the weight of the scythe dragged him down hard, and he hit the floor. "Oof!"

Dante got up and shook off the pain, then tried to lift Scythe-Buki and swing it around, like he saw Mark do. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't lift it.

"What the –"

Dante tugged and tugged, but the scythe was just too heavy to be lifted.

"Th-this thing weighs a million pounds!" Dante yelled, his eyes bulging as he pulled with all his might. "How the heck did Mark swing it around so easily?!"

"Hmph!" Scythe-Buki said. "Only Mark can use me, idiot!"

Dante gasped, and his eyes widened. "_What?_"

A shocked look crossed Nat's face.

"It's true that my spell turns me into a scythe, and lets my wielder swing me around like a scythe master," Scythe-Buki continued. "But only Mark can wield me, because he's my book owner. No one else can do it. Of course, if I was a _normal _mamodo, it would work for anyone…" Buki's head and shoulders became visible in the blade, and he grinned. "But I have a lot more control over my spells!"

Mark stopped putting energy into the book, and as Buki transformed back, he swung his foot and connected hard with Dante's head, causing Dante to stumble back.

"Poruk!"

Buki's arms transformed into a hammerhead, and he swung at Dante, who tried to block it by crossing his arms in front of him. But the hammerhead broke his defence and smashed into him, causing him to stumble. Buki followed up by pummelling Dante any which way with the hammerhead, preventing Dante from regaining his footing. Up, right, left, right, down, left, right, right, down.

"Get it through your thick skull!" he yelled, knocking Dante up off his feet and sending him up.

"Poruk!"

Buki's arms transformed into twin mini-cannons, and he aimed at Dante.

"This is the power of an elite!" Buki yelled. The book in Mark's hands began to glow brightly.

An alarm went off in Nat's head.

_Oh, no!_

"DANTE!" Nat yelled.

"Gigano Bukiodon!" Mark chanted. Buki's arms gathered energy, and then shot out a great blast of yellow energy, straight at Dante. His eyes grew wide as he saw the large mass coming at him, but it was too fast for anyone to react to it. The mass slammed into Dante, and there was a huge explosion in the air where they collided, producing a veil of smoke.

"No…" Nat murmured, then started to yell. "Dante! DANTE!"

"Hmph," Buki said, with a smile on his face. "You're wasting your breath. He just got hit point-blank by a Gigano-class spell. There's no way he could have –"

Then his eyes grew wide. "What?"

The smoke was clearing, and Dante was standing there, breathing heavily. He was bruised and battered, certainly, and he was bleeding in several places. But he was still standing. Nat sighed in relief, and Buki and Mark stood and stared, shell shocked.

Then Dante sprang forward.

"AAAAAAAAHHH!" he yelled, and smashed his fist into Buki with a force that sent him flying back towards Mark. But Dante didn't stop. He kept running until he was almost in front of them.

"NAT!" Dante yelled, aiming at Mark and Buki, who was still in the air. _Use the second spell!_

"Yeah!" Nat replied with a grin on his face, and his book started glowing.

"DAME FARGA!"

The 3x3 laser wall formed right in front of Dante and zoomed at Mark and Buki.

"Sh-shit!" Mark yelled. "Poruk Shield!"

Buki transformed in midair into a large, rectangular black shield wit a yellow border, and the laser wall slammed into it. But the spell was too strong, and he couldn't block it properly. He was thrown back and the transformation was cancelled.

"AHH!" he yelled, as he and Mark were thrown backwards. They just barely managed to block the attack. Mark sprang up to his feet.

"Ha!" he shouted triumphantly. "Your spell didn't work! Now we're gonna –"

Then the smoke cleared, and he gasped. Nat and Dante had disappeared.

"What the –" Mark scanned the field, but they were nowhere to be found. "Where did they go?!"

* * *

Nat and Dante were, in fact, hiding in some bushes a few metres away. Nat had grabbed Dante away when Buki transformed.

"Are you all right?" he asked, checking Dante over. Dante nodded in response. Nat sighed and sat back.

"Looks like that plan didn't work," he said. "We can't rely on tricks like that. We'll just have to beat them using only our spells. And I think I know how."

_Just now, when we used Dame Farga at close range… _Nat thought. _He could easily have disrupted the spell with that move he used earlier. But he didn't! That means their second spell only gives Mark weapon skills. No matter how skilled he is with the scythe, his reflexes aren't fast enough to block Dame Farga at close range!_

"You understand what the plan is, right?" Nat asked.

"Yeah," Dante nodded. "We just have to hit him at close range!"

"Exactly." Nat grinned. This connection they had was really useful. "But there's a chance that Mark will still be able to disrupt the wall enough to dodge the attack. So we have to use Version Two."

Dante's eyes grew wide.

"Huh? V-version Two?

"Yeah. With Version Two, if he somehow manages to disrupt the attack, we'll be able to trap him. The success of this plan, and the outcome of the battle, depends on you controlling Dame Farga to the greatest level possible."

"But I can't control it yet!"

Nat smiled."Yes, you can. You can do this, Dante. I believe in you. All of those times that it didn't work were just because you didn't believe you could control it. You just have to believe in your ability, and it'll come naturally. Trust me."

Slowly, a smile spread on Dante's face, and he nodded.

"All right, let's do this!" Nat said, with a grin on his face. "I'm counting on you, Dante!"

"Yeah!" Dante replied, and aimed at Mark and Buki, who were standing a few metres in front of the bushes.

"Farga!"

Three beams shot out of the bushes at Mark and Buki.

"What the –" Buki exclaimed. Mark reacted quickly and read the second spell.

"Scyzo Poruk!"

Buki turned into a scythe again, which Mark grabbed and slashed at the beams with, intercepting them. Then suddenly Dante was in front of him.

"Wha –"

Mark blocked Dante's punch and pushed him back, but Dante flipped, landed on his feet and rushed at Mark again and again. As Mark repelled him for the fourth time, he saw Nat holding the spellbook, which was shining brightly.

_Wait a minute…_ Mark thought. _Is he trying to get close enough to shoot that wall at us again?!_

"No…" he stammered as Dante came at him again, then he started to yell, panicked. "Stop that! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

He started swinging the scythe like crazy at Dante, going on the offensive and pushing him back. Dante dodged all of his scythe swings, which made Mark attack even more frantically. He jabbed Dante in the stomach with the front end of the scythe, knocking the wind out of him, then knocked him back hard towards Nat and jumped into the air scythe at the ready. His spellbook started glowing brightly.

"GIGANO BUKIODON!" he yelled, swinging the scythe and sending a huge crescent wave of energy flying towards Nat and Dante. Dante landed on the ground and jumped up onto his feet.

"Dante!" Nat yelled. _AIM NOW!_ Dante quickly aimed at the approaching attack.

Then the wave hit, bringing up a cloud of smoke. Mark landed, put the spellbook back in his pouch and looked over at the area with a calm expression on his face.

"They were pretty tough…" he said quietly. "But in the end, they couldn't match up to our strongest attack."

Then the smoke cleared, and Mark's eyes widened in astonishment. Nat and Dante were standing there, damaged from the attack, but still standing.

"WHAT?"

Dante suddenly sprang forward and Mark raised the scythe in a defensive pose, but Dante slammed his fist into the scythe with such force that Mark was sent flying back, and quickly aimed at Mark.

"DAME FARGA!" Nat yelled, and the 3x3 laser wall zoomed towards Mark. He hit the floor and quickly sprang to his feet, but it had gotten too close.

"Quick! Use Poruk Shield!" Scythe-Buki yelled.

"No!" Mark responded. "Poruk Shield isn't strong enough to block it! We have to try to dodge it!" And he set the blade to the side and quickly swung the blade up, knocking two of the three side stars off balance. He didn't see the grin that spread on Nat's face as he unwittingly did exactly what Nat wanted.

_Gotcha! _

"VERSION TWO!"

Dante started flailing his arms around, and the stars responded in kind, each with two or more beams shooting out. Mark was trapped in the attack.

"SHIT!" Mark swore loudly, and then was knocked to the ground by one of the beams. He quickly got to his feet and started whirling the scythe all around him, using it to reflect the beams. Twenty seconds passed, and Dante was still controlling the stars perfectly. A grin started to spread on Nat's face.

_Yes! __It's working!_

"Faster! Faster! FASTER!" he urged excitedly, and each time Dante sped up.

"Argh!" Mark yelled in frustration. "I can't keep up!" He touched the spellbook, and it started glowing brightly.

"PORUK SHIELD!" he yelled, and Buki transformed into a large arm shield, which Mark raised above his head to protect himself from the attack.

"Now!" Nat yelled. _He can't attack! Go get him! _

Dante surged forward at Mark, who still had the shield over his head, which delayed him from noticing that the attack had been cancelled. Mark suddenly noticed that the attack was over.

"Scyzo Poruk!" he yelled frantically, but Dante was too close to attack. He slammed into Mark's parry, but was stopped. A grin spread on Mark's face, and he swung the scythe around, throwing Dante behind him.

"HA!" he yelled triumphantly. He didn't see the smile that was on Dante's face. "Your last attack didn't work! And now your book owner is unguarded!" He raised the spellbook, which started glowing brightly.

"Dante!" Nat yelled. Dante jumped to his feet and sent the five stars in front of Nat.

_Wait…_ Scythe-Buki thought. _FIVE STARS?!_

"MARK! STOP! DON'T ATTACK!" he yelled frantically, but Mark was already swinging him.

"GIGANO BUKIODON!"

The huge crescent wave of energy flew at Nat. It got closer, closer, then…

"FARGA!" Nat yelled, and the five stars shot beams that stopped the attack. Then the star on Mark's raised spellbook shot a beam which went cleanly through it, and it started to burn as Mark stared at it in shock.

"WHAT?" he yelled.

"NOOOOOOO!" Buki screamed as he started to disappear.

"BUT HOW?" Mark yelled. "ALL OF YOUR STARS ARE IN FRONT OF YOU!"

"Wrong," Nat said. "There were six stars in the Dame Farga spell, but there are only five in front of me. Didn't you notice?"

Then Mark realised what had happened.

_It was when the kid rushed at me!_ he thought. _He wasn't trying to attack me! He placed a star on the book!_

"Ah…" he stammered as he watched Buki disappear. "AHHHH!" He turned tail and ran away.

Dante watched Mark as he ran, so he didn't see Nat walk up to him from behind.

"We won!" Nat said, grinning, and Dante turned around to face him. "Great job, Dante!"

Then he was taken aback as tears of joy ran down Dante's face.

"Nat…" Dante said happily. "I did it…"

Nat smiled. "Yeah. You certainly did." Then he went on one knee and ruffled Dante's hair as the sun set on the horizon. "This victory is all thanks to you, Dante!"


	9. Level 9: A New Friend

"One, two! One two!" Dante stretched his legs vigorously.

"One, two! One, two!" Then he put his hands on his waist and stretched from side to side.

"Okay!" he said triumphantly, with his hands on his hips. "Now I'm ready to play in the park today!"

It was six days after the battle with Buki and Mark. Surprisingly, no mamodo had attacked since then, so it was peaceful. Dante was in a large park in the city that was conveniently placed halfway between Nat's apartment and the school, which was where he had been coming every day since the start of the new school week. After the battle with Amon and Idelle, Nat had decided that it was too risky to bring Dante to school again.

"The school's damaged enough as it is," he'd said to Dante. "It's gonna take me at least a week to repay the debt. You can't follow me to school anymore, not for some time, anyway. Sorry."

Dante had understood where his book owner was coming from, so had readily agreed, if only for the fact that another mamodo showing up at the school was too likely.

_The problem now is what I'm going to play on today,_ Dante thought, scanning the park with his hand on his chin.

Monkey bars? No, he'd played on those yesterday.

See-saw? But two kids were already using it.

The swings? Again, already occupied.

Then something caught Dante's eye. There was a girl sitting in the sandbox all by herself. Dante had never seen her in the park before. She was about six years old, had yellow eyes and long silvery hair that reached her waist, and wore a ragged old grey long-sleeved shirt, faded and ripped old denim jeans, and ratty old sneakers.

_She looks so lonely,_ Dante noticed. He started over to the sandbox, hoping to cheer her up. And he had noticed something special about her…

"Hey!" he greeted, causing the girl to look up at him. "Are you new to the park? My name's Dante! What's yours?"

The girl probably didn't expect this, because she was a bit surprised, and so took some time to answer.

"J-Jiko…"

"Nice to meet you, Jiko!" Dante said, and sat himself down beside her, completely oblivious to her shyness.

"By the way," he bluntly asked, "aren't you a mamodo?"

Jiko whipped her head round and looked at him with wide, shocked eyes. "Wha – How did you –"

"I'm power-sensitive," Dante explained with a grin, pointing at himself. "I could sense the power of other mamodo since I was really little. I guess I was born with it. Don't worry, though," he added, "I won't attack you if you won't attack me. Besides, my book owner is at school now, so I couldn't fight you even if I wanted to."

Hearing this, Jiko heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed.

"I'm curious, though," Dante continued, "why are you sitting here by yourself? Don't you want to play with anyone?"

"Um, yeah, but the thing is, nobody wants to play with me…" Jiko explained. "Maybe it's 'cause of my clothes…"

She was looking at the ground with such a sad expression on her face that Dante almost started getting depressed just looking at her.

"Well, that's no good," Dante said, and abruptly stood up. "Come on! Let's go play on the see-saw!" He pointed at the see-saw, which was now free. Jiko looked up at him in surprise.

"Huh?"

"You heard me," Dante said. "Come on!" He held his hand out to Jiko.

She just stared at him for a moment, as if making sure he wasn't just kidding. Then a smile appeared on her face, and she reached out and took his hand.

* * *

The final school bell rang long and loud, putting and end to the school day. All the students poured out of the school buildings and started heading home, some in groups, some by themselves.

All the students, that is, except for one unfortunate fourteen-year-old boy with spiky brown hair and odd powers.

Nat's entire body ached. He had been 'repaying his debt', as the principal put it, since the lunch ending bell, and his arms and legs were killing him. And his back. And his hands and knees. And his – well, _everywhere_. He had been doing this for five days now, but that never made it easier – especially since most of the time he was cleaning areas of the school that had been nowhere near the 'fire', and were completely undamaged.

_I hate my life._

Nat was on the brink of giving up. He was tired, his body ached, and the workload just kept growing. No matter how hard he scrubbed, swept, dusted or tidied, there was always more to be done. There was always that patch of dust, that smudge of dirt on the window, that extra shelf that was in disarray. It just seemed so hopeless.

But he couldn't. He didn't have a choice. No matter how much work he had to do, how unreasonable the principal and cleaning staff was being, he knew that the school had gotten damaged because of him. Maybe not directly, but it was still partly his fault. So he had to at least _try_ to fix _some_ part of it.

Even if the part he was fixing wasn't broken in the first place.

So Nat slowly and painfully pulled himself up off the floor, shakily stood upright, and dragged himself off to the next area, hoping that there would actually be something to _fix_ there.

* * *

At the park, Dante and Jiko were having loads of fun. After playing on the see-saw, they had played on the swings. First, Jiko sat in the swing, and Dante swung her higher and higher, until it felt like she could reach out and touch the clouds. Then he got into the other swing, and they had a contest to see who could swing higher. Dante won by leaps and bounds, swinging so high that he actually went over the top of the supporting pole and did a full 360-degree swing.

After Jiko helped Dante get off his swing without falling over, they had moved over to the merry-go-round, and Jiko climbed on while Dante spun it, sending her spinning round and round. Seeing all the fun Jiko was having, Dante decided to hop on as well. Then they went on the monkey bars, and although Dante was again faster, Jiko wasn't exactly slow either. In fact, next to Dante, she was the fastest in the park.

After this, they played together on almost everything else: the jungle gym, the big slide, the spring rockers and the trampolines. They even joined in a game of tag with the other kids; although they were a bit unsure about Jiko playing, Dante persuaded them to let her join as well. Jiko had never had so much fun.

They had finally ended up back in the sandbox, and this was where they were now, building a sandcastle together. Jiko had opened up a lot now, and most of her initial shyness had disappeared.

"You seem to be pretty happy," Dante noticed, seeing the great big smile on Jiko's face.

"Yeah!" Jiko beamed. "I don't think I've ever had that much fun anywhere, not even back home. And you even got the other kids to let me play!"

"Heh, it was nothin'!" Dante grinned, glad that he was able to cheer her up. "Hey, I was wondering, how many spells do you have? Right now, I have two!" He beat his chest proudly, feeling very pleased with himself.

"Hmm?" Jiko paused and counted on her fingers. "Um, I think I have about four spells…"

"O-oh," Dante said, sweat-dropping. _Why does everyone have more spells than me?_

"Oh, yeah," he continued. "I haven't asked yet, but you're from the slums back home too, right?"

"Huh?" Jiko blinked in surprise. "How do you figure that?"

"Well, I can tell by your clothes," Dante replied matter-of-factly. "There's no way a girl as pretty as you are would wear clothes like that unless she didn't have a choice."

Now, being a seven-year-old, Dante had no idea of the degree of the compliment he had just paid Jiko. As far as he knew, he was just stating facts. So he failed to notice the deep blush that was spreading across Jiko's cheeks.

_H-he thinks I'm…?_

"Um," was all that she could stammer in response.

Dante grinned. "It's nice to meet another ghetto kid!"

Jiko looked at him for a moment, as if thinking of whether to tell him something. But then she shook her head.

"Y-yeah," she stammered. "Same."

She felt a little guilty about lying to Dante, but right now she was still getting to know him, so she didn't know how he would react to the truth.

_I'll just tell him later,_ she thought, and shrugged it off. It was something that she would gravely regret doing, much later… But that story will come at another time.

"Hey!" a voice called out, causing both of them to turn. "Looks like you found someone to play with, Jiko!"

The owner of the voice was a sixteen-year-old boy who was above average height for his age, but not too tall. He had black hair with white tips, parted at the front so that a bit of his forehead was visible, brown eyes, and a lean muscular build. He was wearing a white shirt, dark blue trousers and a dark blue tie – his school uniform – which meant that he was a student at Nat's school. Jiko's face lit up with happiness.

"Kyle!" she chirped.

_Kyle? Have I heard that name before somewhere…? _Dante thought. _He looks familiar somehow…_

Then it clicked, and Dante let out an audible gasp.

"You're Kyle Ro-" he started, and was quickly cut off by Jiko clapping her hands over his mouth. Kyle quickly walked over.

"Shhhh!" Jiko whispered. "Don't yell out his name! Right now, he's just another student. If people hear who he is, we'll get swamped!"

"Haha, thanks, Jiko." Kyle grinned. "That was close."

"S-sorry," Dante said, doing a little apologetic bow.

"It's all right!" Kyle said, with a smile on his face. "No harm done in the end."

"B-but you're Kyle Roberts, right?" Dante said quietly. "The lead singer of the rock band Dysfunktional?"

Kyle nodded. "Yup, that's me. Who's this, Jiko?"

"Um, this is…" Jiko started, but Dante was already ahead of her.

"I'm Dante!" he said. "Jiko's new friend! That is, if she wants me to be." He turned to face Jiko, and her eyes grew wide.

"R-really?" she said. Dante nodded. Jiko flung her arms around him and hugged him tight with a huge smile on her face. He was a bit surprised by this, and responded by patting her back. After a moment she let go of him.

"See?" Kyle smiled. "You've already made a friend, Jiko." Jiko just smiled and scratched the back of her head, with a light blush on her cheeks. Then something caught her attention.

"This day just keeps getting better!" she beamed. "Come on, Dante!" She grabbed Dante's hand and led him towards a spot in the park where two other kids had just come in. One was a boy about ten years old, with black hair and dark eyes, who wore a blue shirt with a gold collar, gold bracers, black shorts and loafers. He had two lines on his face, one on each side, starting at the bottom of each eye and running down his cheeks. The other was a girl who looked about seven, with curly green hair and shiny grey eyes, who wore a white sundress, short white gloves and lacy white sandals. The boy turned and saw Dante and Jiko coming towards them.

"Jiko! Is that really you?" he called.

"Yeah!" Jiko said happily, as she and Dante came up to them. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We've been looking all over for you!" the boy grinned. "Looks like you've been doing well."

"Yup!" Jiko nodded, then turned to Dante and started the introductions. "Dante, these are my old friends from the Mamodo World, Trevor –" She pointed at the boy, who nodded and waved, "and Meduss." She pointed at the girl, who inclined her head. Jiko then turned back to her friends. "Guys, this is my new friend Dante! He was the one who played with me in the park today. He's a mamodo, too!"

"Oh," Trevor said, "is that right?"

Dante nodded. "Yeah. Nice to meet you!"

"Same."

"I can't believe you guys are here!" Jiko exclaimed, with a great smile on her face. "This is great!"

"Yeah," Trevor agreed, and an evil grin appeared on his face, showing his sharp, pointed teeth. "Now we get to burn two books at the same time." Jiko's smile faltered.

"Huh?"

"Neshir!"

Trevor pointed his fists at Dante and Jiko, and they were blasted back by white energy. They landed on their backs and skidded back on the ground. Dante recovered first and helped Jiko up, who turned and looked at Trevor with scared and confused eyes.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she stammered.

"Like I said, Jiko," Trevor replied, "we've been looking for you." He and Meduss were now radiating a malevolent aura. "So that we could rip your book to pieces and send you crawling back to the Mamodo World."


	10. Level 10: Friends Indeed

"We've finally found you, Jiko." Trevor grinned evilly. "And now you can't run away." As he spoke, two people came out of their hiding places behind him and Meduss. One was a boy about seventeen years old, with curly, messy brown hair and dark brown eyes, who wore a black long-sleeved shirt under a white T-shirt, blue denim jeans and black shoes, and was holding a white spellbook. The other was a girl of the same age, with long black hair which was kept up in a sagging braid and green eyes, who wore a black dress with red sleeves, a black mantle with grey fluff at the end that covered her shoulders, and black slippers. She held a green spellbook with snakes on the spine.

"We're gonna crush you!" Trevor continued, and pointed his fists at Dante and Jiko. The white spellbook glowed brightly.

"Neshir!" the boy called again, and white energy shot out of Trevor's fists and blasted Dante and Jiko back again. They got up more quickly this time, and Kyle rushed forward towards them.

"Are you guys okay?" he asked, going down on one knee and checking them. They both nodded.

"Jiko, I thought those guys were your friends…" Dante said.

"Y-yeah, they are, but…" Jiko looked over at Trevor, who was grinning wide, and Meduss, who looked a bit reluctant.

_These guys are my friends…__We used to play all the time back home… so why are they attacking me…?_

"Heh," Trevor said, "what's wrong, Jiko? Go ahead, attack us. Otherwise…" His grin grew. "We'll burn your book right now! Lukas!"

"Yeah!" Lukas, the boy, replied, and the white spellbook started glowing more brightly. "Neshiruga!" Trevor shot a large beam of white energy from his fists, which slammed into and blew up the ground in front of Dante, Jiko and Kyle, and threw them back. Dante flipped in the air and landed on his feet, while Jiko and Kyle landed on their sides and skidded back. Jiko also recovered fast and quickly got up.

"Ngh…" Kyle muttered, as he slowly pulled himself up. He started taking his grey spellbook out of his bookcase. "Jiko! We have to fight back!"

"No!" Jiko shouted. "Please don't use any spells!"

"What?" Kyle looked at Jiko, incredulous. "But if we don't –"

"PLEASE, KYLE!"

Dante stared at Jiko as she lowered her eyes to the ground.

"I know… I know that if we don't attack, they'll probably beat us," she said quietly. Tears started flowing from her face. "But… but they're my friends! I… I can't fight them!"

Kyle sighed and put the book back in his bookcase.

_I knew it would come to this, _he thought. _After all, she really hates_ _fighting. But… _He held the bookcase to his chest to protect it._ There's no way in hell I'm letting the book get burnt!_

Then Trevor gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"Are you stupid?"

"Neshiruga!"

Trevor shot the beam of white energy, which slammed into Jiko and blasted her back into Kyle.

"_They're my friends. I can't fight them,_" Trevor mimicked, in a mocking whine. His face curled into a sneer. "Tch. Do you think you have a choice? This is the Mamodo Battle, idiot! Only one can survive. There's no room for 'friends' here. It's everyone for themselves! If you're still looking for 'friends' now…" His sneer intensified. "That just shows how stupid you are!" He aimed at them again.

"Meduss, what the hell are you doing?" he snapped, addressing the girl who until now had just been watching, and snapping her out of her inactive state. "This isn't the time to be spacing out. Hurry up and attack!"

"Ah, y-yeah," Meduss replied, and put her hand forward. "Selina…"

The girl nodded and her green book started glowing.

"Mesus!"

"Neshir!"

Green snakes of energy came out from Meduss's hand and a blast of white energy from Trevor's fists. The two attacks slammed into the ground around Dante, Jiko and Kyle, and blew up the area, bringing up a cloud of smoke. The smoke cleared to reveal that they were still on their feet, although a bit more damaged.

"Tch…" Trevor exhaled irritably.

"Say whatever you want…" Jiko said, "but I won't fight you!"

"Heh heh heh." A nasty grin stretched Trevor's face. "We'll see about that. Keep attacking!"

"Mesus!"

"Neshir!"

Dante and Jiko stood in front of Kyle protectively, and the three braced themselves for the incoming attacks.

* * *

Nat could have wept tears of joy as he finished sweeping the last room and packed up the dust. Yep, the last room. He was done! He was finally done for the day! He had never felt so happy in his life. It had been one of the longest days in his life – it felt like a million years had passed since the lunch end bell – but it was finally over! He nearly jumped for joy as he practically flew out of the room, not even bothering to pack up the cleaning equipment – the staff could take care of that, it was what they were paid for, after all – and had to refrain from skipping down the hallways to the principal's study and singing out 'Oh Happy Day' at the top of his voice, deciding to run instead and not look like a complete idiot. However, he couldn't completely suppress his happiness, and ended up sprinting.

"Sir!" he yelled excitedly, throwing open the door. "Sir! I'm done for the day! I'm going –"

"Ah, not quite," the principal replied, sitting at his desk. He was a fairly elderly man with orderly white hair, a white moustache and slim glasses, and he wore a blue suit and tie. "You still have two more rooms to do."

Nat was rendered speechless for a moment.

"Say WHAT?" he suddenly yelled.

"You still have to clean up the assembly hall and the mess hall," the principal continued. All the colour drained from Nat's face as he spoke.

"Are you kidding me?!" Nat shouted. "Those are the biggest rooms in the entire school! They're practically buildings on their own!"

"Oh, yes, and retouch the paint on the assembly hall while you're at it," the principal said. Nat's jaw dropped. Since when did he become a maintenance robot?

"_Hell_ no! I refuse to –"

"Or would you rather pay the bill?" the principal inquired.

Nat thought about this for a moment. If he took every job available to him in the city and worked 24-hour shifts, he would be able to repay the debt in about… ten years. He sighed, defeated, and walked dejectedly out of the study.

"Why me… why me…" he muttered, with drooped shoulders, head down low, comical tears streaming down his face and a depressed aura about him. "What did I ever do to deserve this?"

Suddenly he was struck by a feeling of intense worry, very briefly, but it was enough to snap him out of his state. He wondered where it had come from, and his thoughts drifted to Dante for a moment.

_I hope he's okay…_

* * *

Dante and Jiko were bruised and battered, somehow still standing upright after Trevor and Meduss's relentless assault. Kyle was doing a bit better, slightly less wounded thanks to the protection of the two mamodo in front of him, although now he was down on one knee.

Trevor growled irritably. He was starting to get really pissed off. The fact that the mamodo could still stand after all the spells fired at them was getting to him in a bad way. And they couldn't just keep firing spells endlessly.

_Why…? Even after getting hit so much by our spells… Why are they still standing?_

His teeth gnashed in anger.

_And WHY ISN'T JIKO ATTACKING US?_

It had initially been fun just laying into her with their power, but now it was boring and pointless since she wasn't even fighting back. The fact that she refused to attack them was seriously getting on his nerves. Defeating her just wouldn't be fulfilling if he couldn't crush her at her best.

"Um, Trevor…" Meduss muttered, and Trevor turned to look at her doubtful and nervous expression. "Maybe we should stop… I mean, she isn't even using her spells…"

"NO!" Trevor snapped, causing Meduss to flinch. He aimed at Dante, Jiko and Kyle again. "Again!"

"Neshir!"

"Mesus!"

The green snakes and white blast slammed into Dante and Jiko, causing Jiko to cry out, but they merely slid back, instead of being blown away. The rage vein on Trevor's temple was going into overtime. Then he saw the expression on Jiko's face, and he nearly went berserk.

_What the HELL? _he mentally fumed. _Even though we're laying into her, she isn't even slightly angry! Sadness, a bit of fear and confusion, but no anger! And her eyes… exactly the same thing! No… wait… not just that… something else… is that… PITY?_

"What the _hell_ is _wrong_ with you?" he shouted. "Why won't you attack us? Do you think we can't take your spells? Is that it? You think we're not _good enough_ for you to fight? Well, you're dead wrong! You **better** start fighting back, Jiko! Otherwise, I might just get bored of you…" He raised his fists up so that they were facing just above Dante, Jiko and Kyle's heads. "… and start attacking the humans!"

Jiko's eyes widened. "What?"

"Neshiruga!" Lukas chanted, and Trevor fired a white beam of energy that went over Dante, Jiko and Kyle's heads and towards two human kids who, like every other person in the park, was watching what was going on in awe. The beam came too fast for them to dodge, so they simply screamed as they saw it coming.

"NO!" Jiko screamed, flinging herself towards them, but she knew she could never make it in time. Tears started streaming down her face again.

And then the beam was intercepted.

"NRAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Dante yelled as he blocked the beam with his body, his arms spread out. The beam nearly blasted him back, but he stood firm. Having survived three battles, two wins and one draw, Dante had been able to get in front of the kids quickly enough.

"Ah…" Jiko exhaled in surprise.

"What the –" Trevor said, astonished. _How did he…_

"Jiko," Dante said suddenly, grabbing her attention. His voice was calm, and he wore a serious expression. "Stay with Kyle and protect him. I won't force you to fight this jerk… But there's no way I'm gonna let him hurt any human here!"


	11. Level 11: I'm Gonna Protect Everyone

Nat wearily slumped onto the bench where his bookcase was. He had been lucky – the mess hall was pretty much cleaned up by the time he got there, and the assembly hall was rarely dirty so he had only had to repaint it. But he was too exhausted by this point to be happy. The assembly hall was pretty big, and although it wouldn't be too hard for a painter to do, he had been working for almost three or four hours before, so it was torture considering that he could hardly move in the first place. He was surprised he was able to do it at all.

He sighed and pulled his bookcase towards him, then opened it to check that he hadn't forgotten anything. As he rummaged around in it his hand brushed across the yellow spellbook, and in that instance of contact, he received a message loud and clear.

_Nat, please come to the park quickly. There's some jerk of a mamodo here who's trying to hurt my friend._

* * *

"Neshiruga!"

Trevor fired the white beam at another group of kids, but Dante got in front of them and took the hit.

"Ganzu Neshir!"

Trevor started firing a barrage of white shots at submachine speed, which headed all over the place. Dante quickly created two stars and used them to block all of the shots before they hit any people.

"Tch, he's good," Trevor muttered. He noticed that he was the only one attacking now.

"MEDUSS!"

Meduss jumped again.

"Stop spacing out and attack the humans!" Trevor growled.

"R-right!" Meduss replied, and put her hands forward at three small kids. "Selina!"

"Mesus!"

Meduss shot green snakes of energy from her hands and Dante threw himself in front of them to block it. However, the snakes completely missed them and hit the tree beside them, blowing it up. Meduss faltered.

"Ah…"

"What the _hell_ was _that_?" Trevor scolded.

"My attack missed…" Meduss said apologetically.

"Then attack again! And aim properly this time!"

"R-right!" Meduss pointed both her hands in opposite directions.

"Menesussa!" Selina chanted. Meduss fired several green energy snakes, each headed towards different targets.

"Ah!" Dante yelped, and ran towards one which was about to hit a little girl. He passed in front of two other snakes as he did this, which then turned and started following him instead. He turned and saw the two on his tail.

"AAAHHH!"

Temporarily forgetting what he was initially doing, Dante ran right past the girl in an attempt to get away from the snakes. This caused the one that was initially coming for the girl to also turn and follow him. He turned around to see that there were now three snakes coming after him.

_What the –_

He jumped, ducked, climbed and ran all over the place, but he couldn't lose them. The snakes followed him no matter how he moved. He wondered why on Earth he couldn't shake them off.

Then something caught his eye: the snakes that were going after the other kids were also following them everywhere they ran. If the kids moved right, the snakes did too. If the kids ducked under something, the snakes went lower to go under it. They were mimicking their targets' movements.

Dante's eyes widened in realisation.

_These things... they're like homing missiles!_

Suddenly he had an idea. He ran all around the park, making sure to get in between the kids and the homing snakes, so that they changed their targets and came after him. He rounded up all the snakes in this way, then started trying to shake them off. A sharp turn at the corner of the park got rid of three of them, as they smashed into the fence, unable to keep up. Next, Dante went on the jungle gym and started swinging all over the place, weaving and climbing to get rid of the snakes.

By the time he got off, only three were left – one on the right side, two on the left. He waited until the two closest ones, which were from different directions, were almost about to hit him, then flipped up high, and they crashed into each other.

"Whoa…" Jiko breathed, watching in complete awe, as was Meduss. Trevor just gritted his teeth in anger.

Dante grinned. _Good. Only one left!_

He landed and started running, trying to find a way to lose the last one, when suddenly he found himself heading right towards Meduss. He quickly jumped over her and kept running. The snake latched on to its new target and came at Meduss. She noticed it, but not quickly enough to react.

"Meduss!" Trevor shouted, and aimed at the snake.

"Neshir!" The white blast of energy obliterated the snake just before it reached Meduss. She flinched, then opened her eyes to see that she was okay.

"Meduss…" Trevor growled.

"Ah! S-sorry!" Meduss said quickly. Trevor looked at her for a moment, then sighed.

"Tch, whatever," he replied.

_But this is odd, _he thought. _Meduss isn't normally so slow to react. And just now, she missed those kids when she used Mesus… But she __**never**__ misses! _He looked over at her. _ What could she possibly be thinking about?_

Meduss was currently looking at Dante. For some reason, she felt like she knew him from somewhere, even though this was the first time she'd actually seen him.

_Why does he look so familiar…? _

Dante noticed her looking at him and turned to look back at her. Looking at her face, he saw something he wasn't expecting.

_Her eyes… I can see fear and reluctance in them…_ _Even regret…_

"Hey!" he yelled suddenly. Meduss snapped out of her trance at the loud shout. "Your name is Meduss, right? You don't really want to do this, right?"

Meduss, Trevor and Jiko all looked surprised at the question.

"Ah…" Meduss gasped.

"Well?"

After a moment, she slowly shook her head.

"No…" she replied. "No, I don't…"

"Then why are you doing it?" Dante asked. "Why are you listening to that guy and hurting humans? Why are you attacking your friend? Don't you know it's wrong?"

"Tch," Trevor exhaled in annoyance. Meduss was silent for a moment, then spoke with her head down.

"Yes… I know what we're doing isn't right…" she said nervously. Then she raised her head and her voice. "But I don't have a choice! Trevor said that if I didn't help him, he'd burn my book! A-and besides…" She looked at the ground again. "He said he'd protect me if I stuck with him. I-if I don't, I'll have to deal with this Battle by myself… And I can't do that! I… I'm scared of the Battle and… I'm too much of a coward to fight by myself…" She looked up and pointed at Trevor. "And Trevor… h-he promised to help me find my big sister in exchange for helping him. He knows someone who can help us find her. S-so it's either I do what he says and find my sister, or my book gets burnt!"

"What…?" Jiko murmured. She looked at Trevor accusingly. "You… you're forcing her to help you against her will? That's just wrong! How could you do something like that?"

"Hmph." Trevor sneered. "You have no right to talk. Cowardly shying away from fighting, that's all you do. Look at your book owner. If you had just fought like you're _supposed _to, he wouldn't be that badly hurt. In fact all this that's happening, the humans that are being attacked, the property being destroyed – it's all your fault! And these humans that are about to be hurt –" He spread his arms so that his open palms were facing opposite directions – "it's all your fault, too!"

Jiko gasped and her eyes grew wide as she realised what he was about to do.

"NO!" she yelled desperately. "TREVOR, STOP!"

"Make me," Trevor replied. "Oh, wait, that's right – you can't. You don't want to hurt your _friend._ Well, I don't have that problem! Lukas!"

"Ganzu Neshiruga!"

Several beams of white energy came out from Trevor's hands, and curled around to come down upon the groups of people in the park.

"Crap!" Dante yelped, his eyes widening. "Everyone, MOVE!"

Almost all the people promptly obeyed and ran back to avoid the beams, which smashed into the ground behind them and sent them flying. Only one small kid was too terrified to move from the spot, and Dante threw himself in front of her and took the hit.

"See?" Trevor shouted. "Everyone's getting hurt because of you! Because you're too scared or too proud to use your _precious _spells! You're nothing but a stuck up coward! That's what you've always been, and that's what you always will be! You're useless!" As he spoke, tears streamed down Jiko's face. "What kind of brain-dead moron would have power but not want to use it? You don't deserve to be in this battle! I don't even know how someone like you was picked in the first place! You'll be a burden to everyone around you for the rest of your life!" He aimed at Jiko, and Lukas's spellbook glowed brightly.

"Neshiruga!"

The white beam was shot out of Trevor's fists and headed straight for Jiko, and she made no attempt to dodge it. She was sobbing too heavily to notice or care.

_He's right…This is all my fault…Kyle, Dante, everyone in the park is getting hurt because of me…I really am nothing but a burden…I'm no better than he is…_

"That's right, just cry like the baby you are!" Trevor yelled. "Just keep crying until your book burns to ashes! And you know what? When you're gone, we're gonna tear this place apart! All these humans are going to suffer! And it's gonna be all your fault!" He started laughing maniacally.

"Bastard…!" Kyle muttered.

"AAAAAAAHHH! TREVOOOOR!" Jiko yelled, her voice filled with pain, anger, sadness, desperation and despair.

"SHUT UP, YOU CRUEL CREEP!"

Suddenly Dante was standing in front of her, smashing his fist into the beam and redirecting it into the ground. Trevor stopped laughing, and he, Jiko, Kyle, Meduss and the two other book owners looked at him in shock.

"_You're_ the one who doesn't deserve to be in this battle!" Dante continued, teeth bared. "You came her and started attacking her for absolutely no reason! Even when she _told_ you she didn't want to fight, even when she was crying, you just attacked her! Someone who was your FRIEND! Someone who you used to PLAY WITH! And why? What did she do wrong? She refused to fight you! She refused to hurt her friends! People that she cares about! She didn't hurt those close to her, like you did! She didn't blackmail and threaten her friend, like you did! She didn't attack innocent people – like you did!"As he spoke, there was a ferocious look in his eyes, the same look that Amon and Buki had seen, a look that showed strength, power and determination."I HATE people like you! All you care about is yourself! You don't care who gets hurt, or what's destroyed, as long as YOU get what you want! Well, I won't let you get away with it. I swear you're not going to hurt my friend any more, or anyone else here! I'm gonna protect everyone in this park!"

* * *

Nat ran as fast as he could towards the park, holding the yellow spellbook in his right hand and his bookcase in the left. From the thoughts he was getting from Dante, the guy he was fighting was a real jerk.

_Hold on, Dante!_ _I'm coming!_

Suddenly, the spellbook started glowing brightly, and Nat opened it and saw that he could read the lines on the third page. A grin spread across his face, and he started running even faster.

* * *

"Neshiruga!"

Dante took the beam full on, arms spread out. The heavy damage he had been taking was starting to show. He was bleeding all over, and one of his eyes was almost closed. His clothes were singed and torn up. But the fire in his eyes hadn't dimmed. He suddenly dashed forward, headed for Trevor, who growled audibly in frustration.

"Ganzu Neshir!" Lukas chanted, and Trevor fired a barrage of white shots at submachine speed. Dante just barely dodged almost every one, making sure to also block them with the stars to make sure they didn't hurt anyone else.

"Damn _it_!" Trevor swore, and suddenly Dante was right in front of him. Dante then smashed his fist into Trevor's face, and the force sent him flying back into a large tree outside the park. He dropped to the ground and started shaking.

"Nnnn… nnnnn…"

Trevor nursed his bruised right cheek, where the hit connected. Everyone watched him as he did this. Then…

"NGRAAAAHHHH!" Trevor roared, bringing himself up on his feet. His pupils were reduced to dots, and his teeth were extra pointed. "YOU STUPID PEST! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? THIS ISN'T EVEN YOUR BATTLE! STOP ACTING LIKE MR. HERO AND MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS! SO WHAT IF A FEW HUMANS GET HURT? ONLY THE BOOKS ARE IMPORTANT! YOU SAY YOU'RE GOING TO PROTECT THEM, HUH? WELL, TRY BLOCKING THIS WITH YOUR BODY!" He pointed his fists almost all the way up and opened his hands.

"LUKAS! LET'S SHOW THEM OUR FULL POWER! THE BEST ONE IN THE BOOK!" he yelled. Lukas nodded, and his spellbook started glowing like crazy.

"NESHIRBAI!"

Trevor fired a humongous white snake from his hands, which came down upon the park with its mouth open wide, showing its huge sharp fangs. Jiko gasped, Kyle swore under his breath and Dante could only look up at it as everyone else in the park panicked.

Nat finally arrived at the park, dropped his bookcase against the fence at the right side of the park and jumped over it.

"Dante!" he yelled as he jumped over. _We've got a new spell! Get ready!_ Jiko and Kyle were surprised by the sudden yell, and a grin spread across Dante's face.

"The third spell…" Nat yelled as he ran towards Dante, Jiko and Kyle, holding his spellbook, which was glowing brightly.

"Fashield!"

Five stars appeared and spread out, four on the ground, and one high into the sky, and beams shot out of each star and connected them all, forming a pyramid shield made of yellow energy around Nat, Dante, Jiko, Kyle, and all the humans in the park, with one of the stars at each point. The snake smashed into it and exploded, but it had absolutely no effect on the shield.

"Wha–" Trevor gasped, as shock registered on his and Lukas's face.

"A shield, huh…" Nat remarked, stopping beside Dante.

"Dante…" Jiko said suddenly, and Dante turned his head to look at her. "I thought you had only two spells…"

He looked at her for a moment, and then shrugged.

"I did," was his simple reply. Nat also looked over at her.

"Dante, is this your friend?" he asked. Dante nodded, a smile on his face.

"Yup!' he replied. "Her name is Jiko." He turned to Jiko and grinned. "Jiko, this is my book owner, Nat."

"H-hello…" Jiko said shyly. Nat smiled and got down on one knee.

"Nice to meet you!" he said. "Don't worry…" He gently put his hand on her head. "We'll take over from here."

A small smile spread on Jiko's face.

"DAMMIT!" Trevor yelled, and they all returned their attention to him. The furious expression on his face would have made Amon proud.

"So that's the mamodo who was attacking everyone?" Nat asked.

"Yeah," Dante replied. "We thought he was Jiko's friend, but he's actually a selfish jerk who wanted to force her to fight. We have to beat him no matter what!"

"Yeah," Nat said. "Let's help your friend, Dante!" The spellbook started glowing brightly.

"Dame Farga!"

The laser wall formed and zoomed forward. However, it was a bit different from before. By mastering Dame Farga, Dante had better control over his stars. As a result, he could now control four stars at a time, instead of just three, and this made the spell more powerful. How? It was now a 4x4 laser grid, instead of just a 3x3.

"Ahhhh!" Trevor yelled, panicked, as the laser wall zoomed toward him, Meduss, Lukas and Selina. "Meduss!" Meduss nodded and quickly put her hands forward.

"Snashield!" Selina chanted, and a shield made of snakelike wires formed in front of them. The laser wall smashed right through it, and when it was in front of them…

"Version Two!"

Dante started flailing his arms around, and the stars responded in kind, each with two or more beams coming out. Meduss and Trevor were trapped in the attack.

"GUAAAAAAAHHH!" Trevor yelled.

"KYAAAAAAAHHH!" Meduss screamed. Selina and Lukas jumped back, but Lukas wasn't fast enough, and a beam hit the side of his book, which started burning.

Dante stopped the attack, and the two mamodo fell to the ground, heavily damaged.

"N…nooooo…" Trevor wailed, as he started to disappear. Selina hurried forward and picked up Meduss, who was unconscious.

"I knew it…" she muttered. "I knew this was going to happen! We should never have come with you guys!"

With that, she turned and took off, cradling the girl in her arms. Lukas stared after her, then ran away a second later, and activated a communicator in his ear as he ran.

"The mission was a failure," he said into it. "Some other kid showed up and defeated us. Our book was burned, and Selina and Meduss are gone."

* * *

In an unknown location, a figure let out a frustrated sigh. "Is that so…"

_"Should I try to find them?"_

"No, no, that isn't necessary. Thanks for the information," the figure replied. "You don't have to return to base either." He cut the connection, then took out the communicator in his own ear and crushed it in his fist.

"Hmph," he sneered. "It looks like you got lucky this time… But next time, Jiko… I'll definitely crush you!"

* * *

Back at the park, Dante and Nat watched them run away.

"We did it…" Dante said, as they disappeared from view. "We beat… them…" He suddenly fell to one knee. Jiko rushed forward.

"Dante!" she cried, worried. "Are you okay?"

Dante nodded. "Yeah…" Jiko then hugged him tightly. "OWWWWW."

"S-sorry!" Jiko yelped, and loosened her grip.

"S'OK," Dante replied, in a slightly strained voice. He patted her back with one hand.

"Thank you…" Jiko said quietly after a while. Dante grinned.

"What are you thanking me for?" he replied. "I promised, didn't I? I said I was going to protect you… and everyone else in the park!"

Nat smiled, then went over to Kyle to help him up.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Kyle rubbed his head a bit, but nodded.

"Yeah," he replied. "Just took a few hard hits; nothing I can't handle." He got a proper look at Nat. "Hey, aren't you that Anamura guy who goes to my school?"

"Yeah," Nat replied. The he saw the serious look Kyle was giving him, and remembered who he was. Nat Anamura, the freak.

"Yeah…" he repeated in a smaller voice, and lowered his head. "I know, you didn't need my help… Sorry… We'll just leave…" He turned and started moving away. "Come on, Dan-"

"What're you talking about?!" Kyle grinned and threw his arm around Nat's shoulders, surprising him. "If it wasn't for you, our book would've been burnt. Not to mention all these people getting hurt. You saved us! We have to thank you somehow. I know it's not much, but… how about we hang out tomorrow? We can even get something to eat. My treat."

Nat looked at him in surprise. When he saw that Kyle wasn't joking, a grin spread on his face as well, and he nodded.

* * *

The next day, Nat and Dante arrived at the park. Nat was dressed in a red shirt with a long sleeved white vest under it, brown trousers and trainers. Dante's wounds were fully healed, as though he hadn't fought a harsh battle the day before.

"Yay!" Dante yelled excitedly, jumping up and down. "We get to hang out with our friends today!"

"Yeah…" Nat said, smiling a little, although he wasn't sure that Kyle and Jiko would actually show up. He'd brought a bit of money just in case, so that he could buy Dante some ice cream or something if they didn't come. But as it turned out, he didn't have to worry.

"Dante!" a voice cried, and they turned to see Jiko and Kyle coming towards them.

"Hey, guys!" Kyle grinned. He was wearing an open blue denim jacket with black bands on the sleeves and collar over a white designer T-shirt and jeans. "What took you so long?"

Nat's smile grew, and he and Dante walked toward them, ready to have a fun day together.

* * *

Two days later, on the first day of the new school week, Jiko was standing at the gate of the park, looking for something. Suddenly, a great big smile spread on her face.

"Dante!" she chirped happily, as he approached the park. He grinned and sped up to get into the park faster.

"Hi, Jiko!" he greeted. "Let's have lots of fun today!"

And in the school, at recess, Nat was walking over to his spot when he saw Kyle walking over to some people. He smiled and ran over.

"Hey, Kyle!" he greeted. Kyle turned and gave him a look of hate and contempt, as if they had never met.

"Why the hell are you talking to me, freak?" he asked coldly. Nat looked at him, shocked, and then he lowered his head, turned around and started to walk away.

_I knew it… It was too good to be true…_

Then a hand clamped on his shoulder. Nat turned in surprise and saw Kyle grinning mischievously at him.

"Hahaha, just joking!" Kyle said. "What's up?"

Nat just looked at him for a second. Kyle was actually genuinely pleased to see him. A happy smile spread on Nat's face, and tears of joy welled up in his eyes. He quickly wiped his face with his arm before Kyle could see.

"Idiot," he grinned, "that wasn't funny!"


	12. Level 12: The Bank Heist

It was a beautiful day, and the sun was shining brightly in the sky. A small blond kid was sitting on a park bench, happily eating an ice cream lolly.

"Oi, runt."

A rage vein popped up on the kid's head, but it immediately disappeared when he turned to look at the person who had spoken to him: a nasty looking older kid, with a scowl on his face, who had black hair and grey eyes, and wore a brown vest and brown pants.

"That looks tasty," he continued, indicating the lolly.

"It is," the younger kid slowly nodded.

"Let me have some," the older boy said. At this, the blond frantically shook his head.

"Um, no, sorry," he answered quickly. "Do you have any idea how long it took for me to save up enough to buy this?" And he went back to licking it.

"I don't think you understand," the black-haired boy said. "It wasn't a question."

He snatched the lolly from the blond with uncanny speed and dropped it on the floor in front of him, then raised his foot and, as the blond watched, stomped hard on it, completely crushing it.

"Hey!" the blond shouted. "Why did you do that?"

"Because you pissed me off," the older boy replied. "And I'm bigger and stronger than you, so there's nothing you can do about it."

The blond looked like he might cry for a second. Then an apathetic look crossed his face, and he shrugged nonchalantly.

"Meh," he said. He brought out his antique 3DS console from his pocket and started playing. The older boy's expression changed to one of confusion.

"Wait, what?" he said. "What do you mean, 'meh'? That's not what's supposed to happen! You're supposed to be rolling on the floor and crying like a baby! You're not supposed to get over it like that!" He snapped his fingers to emphasise how quickly the kid had brushed it aside. "That's not how it works!" The blond tried not to snicker at the older boy's frustration.

"Dude, you are _way _behind the times," the blond said, his eyes on the handheld's screen. He looked up at the older kid and raised an eyebrow. "What do you think this is, 1897?"

And with that, he turned back to his game. A terrible look of rage came on to the older boy's face, and he raised his fist.

Loud whams sounded out into the air.

A few minutes later, a dark-eyed biker with a green Mohawk was walking toward the bench. He wore a brown leather jacket and black pants, and was holding a metallic grey spellbook.

"Logan!" he called. "Logan, get over here!" He looked around, seeing nobody, then sighed.

"Where the hell did that damn kid get off to?" he muttered. He raised his voice again. "LOGAN!"

Then he saw the black-haired kid standing at the bench and walked over.

"Logan, what the hell is wrong with you?" he snapped, causing the boy, Logan, to turn and look at him. "Why didn't you answer –"

The biker then noticed a bloody, unrecognisable mass on the ground in front of Logan.

"Logan, what the hell did you do?" he asked.

"It's his own fault," Logan replied irritably, with a rage vein on his forehead. "He was looking down on me."

The biker looked at Logan for a moment, then shook his head.

"Whatever," he finally said, and turned around. "Get off your lazy ass and follow me. I got a job for us to do."

* * *

"Ah, it's a beautiful day today!" Kyle remarked, hands behind his head.

Nat nodded. "Yup."

"And you were spending it inside _why?_" Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, it's not like I'd usually have any friends to go out with…" Nat replied sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

The two were walking in the city's shopping district, with Dante and Jiko a few metres in front of them. Dante was carrying Jiko on his back.

A week had passed since Dante met Jiko and defeated Trevor and Meduss. Normally, Nat and Kyle would be in school, and the two mamodo kids in the park, but today was a public holiday, so they decided to go out together. Or rather, Kyle found Nat and Dante sitting around in the apartment, bored out of their skulls, and dragged them out and to the shopping district with him and Jiko. Nat was wearing a white vest under an open blue hoodie shirt, black jeans and trainers, and Kyle was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt under a designer T-shirt, blue denim shorts and leather sandals.

"I still can't believe that the principal would make you repaint the entire assembly hall," Kyle said. "I mean, what the hell did you do?"

"Nothing," Nat replied, shrugging. "Although it sort of _was_ technically our fault that the school was damaged…"

"I bet it's because you've got more hair than him," Kyle said. "I mean, the bald patch on the guy's head could burn a hole in the ozone."

Nat cracked a smile.

"Seriously, though," Kyle continued, "I don't understand why people act the way they do to you. I actually thought you were some huge jerk or sociopath or something, but for a genius, you're actually a really cool guy. I don't get why people seem to hate you so much."

"Whoa!" Dante gasped in front of them. They walked up to the mamodo and found them in front of a games arcade.

"So many games…" said the two mamodo in awe, their faces pressed against the window. Dante then noticed Nat and Kyle standing behind them.

"Let's go in here next!" he suggested, pointing at the arcade with sparkling eyes. "They've got all sorts of games, both normal and VR!"

"Sounds really expensive…" Nat said, sweat-dropping as he looked up at the arcade and was made painfully aware of the emptiness of his wallet.

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeaaaaase?" begged Dante and Jiko, with big puppy dog eyes.

"Eh? You too, Jiko?" Kyle said, visibly shocked. Jiko simply pointed at the arcade.

"They have Virtual Kitty."

"I wish we could, but I'm broke," Nat said apologetically, and turned out his pockets to emphasise his poverty.

"If money's the problem, I'll pay," said Kyle. He reached into his pocket and his face went blank.

"Ah."

"What's the problem?" Nat asked.

"I don't have my wallet," Kyle replied sheepishly. "I think I left it back at that sushi place. Wait a second, I'll be right back!" He turned and ran back towards the sushi restaurant they had just left. The other three watched him go, and Nat shook his head, chuckling.

_He's a bit of a clown, but he's a good guy._

Suddenly, an alarm went off in Nat's head, and Dante froze.

_Danger! _Nat thought.

"Nat!" Dante said. "There's a mamodo nearby, a hostile one!"

"What?" Nat exclaimed. A real alarm started going off very loudly, coming from the direction of the city bank. Nat and Dante exchanged looks, and Jiko glanced up worriedly.

With a unanimous nod, the three turned and ran towards the city bank.

* * *

The security bots were strewn all over the floor in pieces, and the mini turrets above and in front of the cash drawer were torn apart. The group of people who were in the bank were crowded in a corner, trembling with fear.

"Ugh…" the teller muttered. He was shaking as well.

"Heh heh heh," the biker chuckled. "Are you done playing with your toys? If you are then hurry up and hand over the money. Or do you need some more _persuasion?_" The teller went pale.

"N-no! Wait a second-" he started.

"Logan," the biker said, cutting him off. Logan put his hand forward, and the spellbook in the biker's hand started glowing brightly.

"Chanz!"

A chain with a small steel ball at the end shot out of Logan's outstretched hand with the force of a cannonball, headed towards the teller, whose eyes were wide open.

"Farga!"

A yellow beam came from behind the biker and Logan, and hit the chain, breaking it. The ball fell down onto the ground.

"What the –" the biker started, and he and Logan turned around to find Nat, Dante and Jiko standing at the entrance.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" Nat asked. The biker looked at him for a moment.

"Oh, I'm just cashing in a cheque for my dear old granny," he replied sarcastically. "What do you _think_, Einstein?"

"I thought so," Nat sighed. "Sorry, but we're going to have to stop you now." The yellow book started glowing brightly. "Jiko."

Jiko looked up.

"Go find Kyle and get away from here. We'll take care of this."

"What?" Jiko exclaimed. "But –"

"It's okay," Dante said, and put his hand on her shoulder. "We know you hate fighting, so we won't force you to. Just get away safely. I don't want you to get hurt cause of us."

Jiko looked as if she wanted to cry for a moment. Then she turned around and ran out as fast as she could.

"Let's go, Dante!" Nat yelled.

"Yeah!" Dante replied.

"Destroy 'em, Logan," the biker said.

"Gladly!" Logan grinned. The two spellbooks started glowing brightly.

"Farga!"

"Chanz!"

* * *

As Jiko ran, searching for her book owner, tears formed in her eyes, blurring her vision. With every step she took, the pain in her heart increased.

_Dante helped me when I was in trouble, even though he didn't have to, _she thought. _And I can't even return the favour, because he doesn't want me to get hurt! Because I hate fighting, he doesn't want me to have to! Just like before… _The image of Dante, bloody and beaten up, formed in her mind. _Dante got that badly hurt because I didn't want to fight! Even when people were getting hurt! And yet… And yet he still…_

The tears flowed down her face and she shut her eyes.

_Dante!_

* * *

"Dochanz!"

Logan slammed his palm on the ground, and Nat jumped back before the spell was chanted, just in time to avoid the chains coming up from the ground. Dante dodged all of them neatly and rushed at Logan.

"Shit!" Logan yelled. "Sid!" The biker, Sid, quickly chanted another spell just as Dante got in front of Logan.

"Chanzshield!"

A wall of chains erupted from the ground between Logan and Dante. Dante stopped right before he could crash into the shield.

"Dante!" Nat yelled.

"Right!" Dante aimed, and the two stars with him trained themselves on the chain wall.

"Farga!" The two yellow beams smashed through the wall with ease and slammed into Logan full force, sending him flying back. He landed hard in front of Sid.

"Ow!" he hissed, and got up quickly. _Shit, that was a bad move. Chanzshield's weak against beam attacks…_

"What are you getting worked up about, dumbass?" Sid asked.

"In case you haven't noticed, these guys have countered all the spells we've used!" Logan snapped. "They're obviously stronger than us! How the hell are we supposed to win?"

"See, this is why you're still a kid," Sid remarked. "What kinda dumb question is that? We play dirty, of course." With a smirk he pointed at the people huddled in the corner, and an understanding grin spread across Logan's face.

"Dochanz!" Sid chanted, and Logan slammed his palm on the ground. Chains erupted from the floor at a diagonal just in front of the people, coming straight at them.

"Crap!" Nat said. "Dante!" _Aim at those people! _Dante quickly aimed.

"Fashield!" Three more stars appeared, and the five stars formed the pyramid shield around the people. The chains ricocheted off without making a dent.

_Heh, _Sid thought, _gotcha! _He pointed quickly, and Logan understood and pointed his other hand at Nat.

"Kirochanz!"

A chain with a wickedly sharp spike at the end shot out of Logan's outstretched hand straight at Nat. It was almost in front of Nat before either he or Dante could react, and Nat couldn't move fast enough to dodge it.

"GARON!"

A large rectangular spiked metal flail slammed into the spike-and-chain, smashing it off course and into the floor just before Nat was skewered.

"Wha –" Sid gasped, and he and Logan looked at their new enemy. Dante just stared in shock, and a smile spread across Nat's face.

"It looked like you needed some help," a familiar voice said from behind.

Nat grinned. "So you finally decided to show us your spells… Kyle! Jiko!"

And sure enough, there they were, standing behind him. Kyle was holding open his grey spellbook, and the large flail was coming out of Jiko's outstretched left hand, her left arm supported by her right.

"Sorry we took so long," Kyle said. "It took me a while to find my wallet. But now we can help you guys." The grey spellbook in his hand started glowing.

_Dammit! _Logan thought. _We could barely handle the star kid! Another enemy is not what we needed right now! _

"Let's beat the crap out of these guys!" Kyle said.

"Yeah," Nat replied, as Jiko joined Dante up front. "We'll stop these robbers… Together!"


	13. Level 13: Stars 'n' Metal Tag Team!

_Shit. Shit shit shiiiiiitt, _Logan thought. _That dirty trick we pulled was our only hope at beating that kid, and it was countered! How are we going to survive now that it's two against one?_

"Logan!" Sid yelled. "Snap out of it! We have to attack!"

"R-right," Logan answered. He placed his hand on the ground and Sid's book started glowing brightly.

"Dochanz!" Chains shot from the floor and flew towards Dante and Jiko.

"Garon!" Kyle yelled, and the huge metal flail shot out of Jiko's left hand. She swung her arm across, and the flail smashed into the incoming chains, breaking most of them, and deflecting the rest into the floor. She and Dante then rushed forward at Logan.

"Aaaagh!" Logan yelled, panicked. "Stay away!" He threw both hands up in front of him.

"Chanz!" Jiko ducked, and the ball-and-chain shot over her head.

"Chanz!" Dante batted the chain away with the back of his fist.

"Dochanz!" Dante and Jiko split up to avoid the chains that erupted from the ground where they had been a second before. The two joined up again after passing them.

"Dante, would you…?" Jiko started to ask, pointing forward.

"No problem!" Dante replied, and grabbed onto her right arm. "Alley-oop!" He threw her forward so that she was much closer to Logan, and she aimed her left hand at him.

"Garon!" The flail shot out of Jiko's hand towards Logan.

"SIIIIIIDD!" he yelled.

"Chanzshield!" The wall of chains erupted from the ground in front of Logan, blocking the flail easily.

"Dante!" Nat yelled.

"Got it!" Dante replied, and aimed at the shield spell. "Jiko, move!" Jiko nodded and jumped back.

"Dame Farga!" Nat yelled, and the 4x4 laser grid wall formed and zoomed at the chain wall.

"SHIT!" Logan swore.

"Don't just stand there, you dumbass!" Sid yelled. "MOVE!" He grabbed Logan under the arms and jumped sideways, getting out of the way just before the laser wall smashed through the shield and the wall behind it, which caused an explosion that threw them further and hard into the floor.

"Ngh…" Logan groaned, as he pushed himself up onto one knee.

"My bank!" the teller cried, distressed.

"SHUT IT, BALDY!" Logan snapped, and then turned his attention back to the battle. "You little shitheads…!" He put his hand up and aimed at Dante as Sid got up.

"Kirochanz!" The spike-tipped chain shot out of Logan's hand towards Dante. He quickly bent his body out of the way of the spike and caught the chain in his hand as it passed. He put his other hand on the chain and pulled, yanking Logan off his feet and towards him.

"Jiko!" he yelled.

"Yeah!" Jiko replied, and shot to his side. She pointed her left hand at Logan.

"Garon!" Kyle chanted. The flail shot out of Jiko's hand and collided with Logan's face with such force that, had he been human, his head would have been smashed right off his shoulders. He flew backwards and slammed into the wall behind him. He landed on his feet and stood upright shakily.

"All right, let's follow through with this attack!" Kyle said. "Jiko! Aim at him!"

"Got it!" Jiko replied, and put up both of her hands as the flail disappeared back into her palm.

"Ganzu Garon!"

Jiko started firing a barrage of spiked metal spheres, like mini cannonballs, from her hands at submachine speed. The spheres flew at Logan.

"Chanzshield!" Sid shouted, and the wall of chains erupted in front of Logan again.

"Dante!" _Aim at the shield, but be careful not to hit any of those spheres!_

"Right!" Dante aimed at the shield, and the four stars trained themselves on the chain wall.

"Farga!" The beams from the stars flew through gaps between the spheres and destroyed the shield, leaving Logan unprotected. The barrage of spheres smashed into him, most of them hitting him, and he flew back and was embedded in the wall. He fell off and hit the floor.

_Guh…_ he thought, slowly raising his head. _No matter how you look at it, this is a hopeless situation. None of my spells are working at all…_

"S-Sid…" he muttered quietly, and put his palm on the floor without getting up. Sid nodded and the book in his hand glowed brightly.

"DOCHANZ!" Chains shot from the floor at the sides of Dante and Jiko. Dante smashed his fist into the ones from the right, breaking some and deflecting the rest, and Jiko pointed her left hand at the ones from the left.

"Garon!" The flail smashed and broke through all the chains.

_As I thought, _Logan thought grimly. _I can't beat these two… They're… too strong. _He gritted his teeth. _Ngh… I hate this feeling… the feeling of being powerless… I hate it. I hate it with all my hate! I want power. I want enough power to beat these shrimps to a pulp. I don't want to have this feeling… ever again!_

The spellbook in Sid's hand started glowing without him feeding it any heart energy. He opened it and a grin spread across his face.

"Heh," he said, "pathetic. This is the guy who says he'll be the strongest? Bloody on the floor, beaten to a pulp by two toddlers, and giving up so soon? We haven't used all our spells yet, you idiot."

Logan opened his eyes wide.

_A new spell...?_

"The fifth spell…" Logan said, as the spellbook glowed brightly. "Chanzruk!"

As they all watched, chains started crawling over Logan's body and he started glowing brightly. An alarm went off in Nat's head.

"Crap!" Nat said. "We can't let him finish the spell! Now's our chance! Dante! Jiko!"

"Right!" Dante aimed, and Jiko pointed her palm at Logan.

"FARGA!"

"EI GARON!"

The four stars around Dante shot beams, and a chain with a cannonball-size spiked sphere shot out of Jiko's palm. The two attacks shot towards Logan.

Two large hands covered in chains blocked the attacks easily; the left one blocked the yellow beams, while the right one caught the steel sphere. As they watched, something rose up from the spot where Logan had been lying a moment ago.

Dante's eyes widened.

Jiko gasped.

"Crap," Nat muttered.

"Oh, boy," Kyle breathed.

Logan stood before them, completely covered in chains, and much bigger than before. His eyes were now completely red and glowing. With a smirk, he raised his right hand and crushed the metal sphere in it.

"Heh heh," he grinned. "My turn." And he rushed at them.

"Dante! Jiko!" Nat yelled, and the mamodo turned to look at him. "Come back he-"

"Too late," Logan smirked, standing right behind Dante and Jiko. He swung his arm and sent the two mamodo flying back into the wall on his left. Jiko hit the wall back first, and slid down onto her feet. Dante flipped and hit the wall with his feet, then ricocheted off it and shot towards Logan.

"AAAAAAAHHH!" he cried, and threw a bone-breaking punch at Logan, who simply blocked it with the back of his hand.

"Not good enough," Logan sneered, and swatted Dante away. Dante flipped and landed on his feet.

"Garon!" Jiko had somehow gotten right above Logan. She brought the flail down on his head, but he just caught it and tossed her forward. With an "Oof!" she slammed into Dante, knocking him over, and they both ended up on the ground.

"You call that an attack?" he sneered, and raised his fist. "THIS is an attack!"

He slammed his fist into the ground in front of Dante and Jiko, throwing them backwards hard. They landed in front of Nat and Kyle. Logan stood up straight and looked at his hands.

_Heheheheh… This power… This immense power flowing through me… _ Logan thought, an insane grin spreading on his face. _So much power… I could do anything I wanted to right now. No one can stop me. I'm invincible! _

"Are you two alright?" Nat asked, going down on one knee to check if they were badly injured. Dante gave a thumbs-up, and Jiko nodded.

_This isn't good,_ Nat thought. _Logan is much stronger now… We can't hold back. We have to hit him with all our power!_

"Dante!" he yelled. _Aim at Logan!_

"Right!" Dante replied, and aimed at the chain monster, who had started to walk towards them.

"Farga!" The four stars shot beams that hit Logan head-on, but without any effect.

"Garon!" Kyle chanted, and the flail shot out of Jiko's hand, towards Logan. He just batted it away.

"Dame Farga!" The 4x4 laser grid wall formed and zoomed towards Logan.

"Hmph," he smirked. "Attacks like that…" The spell collided with him, but it had no effect on him. "…won't do anything to me!" He sprang forward.

_Uh-oh, _Nat thought. "Fashield!" The pyramid shield formed around Nat, Dante, Jiko and Kyle just as Logan got in front of them.

"Tch," Logan said. He smashed his fist into the top of the shield, completely destroying it, and sending the four flying back. They hit the floor hard and skidded back.

"Ugh…" Kyle muttered, pulling himself up. _Garon and Ei Garon have no effect on him and Ganzu Garon isn't likely to work either… That leaves only one spell… _He raised his spellbook, which started glowing brightly.

"The fourth spell…" Kyle started to chant, "Gigano-"

"Wait, Kyle!" Jiko yelled, cutting him off. "Please don't use the fourth spell!"

"But none of our other spells are working! That's the only one that might have an effect!"

"It's too much…" Jiko pleaded. "I don't want to kill him… Please…"

"Kuh…" Kyle exhaled. _She has a point. The fourth spell's pretty gruesome… Someone could get seriously hurt… _He looked over at Logan. _But it's the only spell that might work… What should I do…? _

"Heh heh," Nat went, as he shakily got up from the floor. They all looked over at him. "Our attacks aren't working… and Fashield was a bust, too… I guess there's no other option… I'll have to use that." He looked up towards Sid and Logan.

"Hey, wait a minute…" Sid said. "Now I remember where I've seen you before. You're that guy who's on all those warning posters in this city!"

"That sounds about right," Nat mused. "I'm not very well liked here. You wanna know why? It's mostly because I'm a freak of nature. I have an odd power, and because of that power, I've been feared, despised and avoided." He closed his eyes.

Suddenly, all three mamodo went wide-eyed.

_Oh, shit, _Logan thought. _Is this…?_

"You want to see it?" Nat asked. "Wanna see what this power's like? I'll show you." His eyes started opening. "I'll show you this power… **The reason I'm called a demon.**"

His eyes had a concentric ring pattern in them.


	14. Level 14: A Bit About Nat

"I've had enough of this battle," Nat said. "You're going to regret making me fight with my full power." He noticed Logan was shaking like a leaf and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, come on, it can't be _that _bad. It's not like I've turned into a monster. Is it?"

_This wavelength… Those eyes…_ Logan thought. _There's no mistake. This is the most powerful non-magic technique known to mamodo and humans… That legendary power… The Answer-Talker!_

"Logan, what the hell are you doing?" Sid asked irritably.

"H-his eyes…" Logan managed to stutter. "S-Sid… L-look at his eyes…"

"Tch," Sid exhaled. "So he looks like a freak now, so what? It doesn't change anything. You're still stronger than them, aren't you? All you have to do is beat the shit outta them before he can do anything!"

_No, Sid… You don't understand…_ Logan thought. _Strength doesn't mean a thing in this situation. No matter what we do, we're definitely gonna lose now…_

"Well, don't just stand there!" Sid yelled. "Crush them!"

Logan looked back at Sid for a moment.

_I hate to admit it, Sid…But I'm gonna miss you. So long…_

And then he sprang forward at Nat and Dante.

"Dante," Nat said, and Dante snapped out of his state of semi-shock and looked up at him. _Follow my instructions as I give them to you. Aim at whatever spot on his body that I indicate. _

Dante nodded. _Understood. _He turned back so that he was facing forward.

As Logan got closer, Nat's eyes widened a bit for a fraction of a second, and then he pointed at a spot on Logan's body. _There! _Dante aimed.

"Farga." The beams shot at Logan.

"Hahahaha! You idiot!" Sid roared. "Those beams have no effect on Logan! You think that attack's gonna work now just because your eyes are disconfi-"

"GUUAAAAHHH!"

Sid's eyes widened as he saw the beams hit Logan in the spot just above his shoulder, causing Logan to cry out in agony. He could only stare as Logan held onto his shoulder, wincing in pain. Blood flowed from the spot freely, and a few drops hit the floor. He shook off the pain and started coming at them again.

_There!  
_

_There!_

_There!_

_There!_

_There!_

Nat continued pointing at spots on Logan's body, which Dante quickly aimed at.

"Farga."

When the beams hit Logan at each of these points, he shrieked in pain, and more blood flowed. In a matter of seconds Logan was on his knees, barely able to keep upright.

"What… But… How…" Sid stuttered, unable to speak. A small smile crept onto Nat's face.

"Surprised?" he asked. "I'm sure you thought Logan was invincible, correct? That's not entirely true." Sid just stared at him in confusion, so he started to explain.

"Your fifth spell, Chanzruk, changes the user's body into chains, increasing their power and defence twenty fold. The chains mean that Logan's body becomes extremely durable, able to take almost any haphazard attack. However, they don't make him completely indestructible. There are small weak spots on his body, away from any vital areas, like chinks in the armour.

"Because these spots are normally so insignificant, they are overlooked, so he isn't likely to be harmed. However, these spots are made extremely vulnerable in exchange for the increase in durability, so when they _are _hit, the do far more damage than normal. This is not only the most effective way to defeat him, but is also the only way to take him down while in Chanzruk form."

Sid was rendered speechless for a moment.

"How… How could you possibly know all that…?" he finally asked, in a weak voice. Nat simply smiled.

"It's because I'm a freak."

Sid started to tremble in fear.

_Now I understand why Logan was shaking… _he thought. _This kind of power… _He looked down at his hands. _I can't stop trembling… Is this what fear feels like? _He looked up at Nat. _There's no doubt in my mind… This guy… is definitely a demon!_

"Dante," Nat said. "We'll finish him with this attack." Dante nodded shakily and aimed again at Logan.

"Dame Farga."

The 4x4 laser grid wall smashed into Logan, specially formed to hit all his weak points. With this final attack, Logan fell heavily onto the floor, creating a small crater.

"Checkmate," Nat said. The book in his hands glowed brightly. "Farga."

The beam from one of the stars hit Sid's spellbook, knocking it out of his hands, onto the floor. Sid stared at the burning book for a moment, and then looked at Nat.

Then he fainted. And the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness were those horrifying ringed eyes.

* * *

"You did good, son," the policeman remarked, shaking Nat by the hand as Sid was taken away in handcuffs. "This guy has managed to get away from us time after time, but thanks to you, we've finally caught him."

"I didn't really do anything that impressive…" Nat replied modestly, scratching the back of his head. His eyes were no longer ringed, but were their normal shade of blue.

"What are you talking about?" Dante cried. "You just used the legendary Answer-Talker!"

"Answer-Talker?" Kyle inquired.

"Yup." Nat nodded. "That's what my power's called."

"Ah," Kyle said, nodding sagely. After a moment of silence, he coughed and asked, "Well, what does it do, exactly? Does it make your spells more powerful?"

"No, that's not it!" Dante exclaimed. "The Answer-Talker is an incredible ability that grants the user the answer to any question! 'How can I win? What's his weak point? How dangerous is she as a foe?' The Answer-Talker can answer all these questions with ease!"

"You sound like some sort of salesman," Kyle chuckled. "But that sounds like a pretty useful ability."

"It is!" Jiko said excitedly. "It's the most powerful non-magic ability known to humans and mamodo!"

"Whoa," Kyle said.

"Whoa is right!" Jiko replied. She turned to Dante. "How could you not know that your book owner has that kind of ability?"

"Well, I'm not really the best at sensing _human _powers…" Dante said nervously, scratching the back of his head. Then a serious expression crossed his face.

"But I don't understand something," he mused, his hand under his chin. "You can only get the Answer-Talker if you 'die and come back to life.' How did you get it, Nat?"

Nat stiffened for a second at Dante's question.

"It's a long story," he said quietly. "You sure you want to know?"

"Yes, please!" Jiko said, and Dante nodded.

"I'd like to know, too," Kyle remarked. "This 'dying and resurrecting' stuff's got me interested."

Nat sighed. _I just hope Kyle will still be my friend after this._

"Okay, then," he decided. "I'll tell you guys how I got my power."

* * *

_-Fourteen years ago-_

_A man sat outside the delivery room, wringing his hands worriedly. He was about 21 years old, had spiky light brown hair and blue eyes, and was dressed in a white shirt with the first few buttons undone, a loosened black tie and a pair of black trousers. He looked a little dishevelled because of his untidy dressing. The man put his hands together and closed his eyes as if in prayer._

"_Push! Push!" the doctor yelled. The 22-year-old woman on the bed let out a loud shriek as she complied. Her long dark hair was dishevelled, and there were small tears at the corners of her hazel eyes._

"_I can see the head!" the birthing nurse exclaimed. "It's coming out!"_

"_Just a little more!" the doctor urged. "Push harder! Quickly!"_

_And push harder she did. But she pushed a bit too hard. Due to her ministrations, her womb was torn viciously, and she knew something was wrong even before she felt it. _

_{Shit, she's bleeding!} _

"_Get the baby out, now!" the doctor ordered. The nurses quickly brought in the vacuum cup. _

"_Please stop pushing," he said to the woman, who nodded shakily. The nurses quickly set up and started the vacuum cup, which attached to the baby's head and pulled it out enough for the birthing nurse to hold it under the arms and bring it out completely._

"_Check for wounds," the doctor instructed the birthing nurse. "I think she may have pushed too hard." _

_As the nurses helped the woman to catch her breath and checked her womb, the doctor took the baby, held it upside down and smacked its bottom to check if it could breathe. No response. The doctor waited a moment, and then smacked it again. The baby still did not respond. With a worried expression, he laid it down on the table and checked for a pulse, the sound of breathing, nerve response, any sign of life._

_He didn't find anything._

_The doctor sighed and raised his hands from the baby's still corpse. One of the nurses came up to him._

"_Sir, the wound is too large, and she's losing too much blood to survive," she said quietly. The doctor stood ramrod stiff and looked at her for a split second, then slumped down and held his head in his hand._

"_Get the nanostitcher," he said finally._

"_But, sir-"_

"_We have to try," he responded sharply. The nurse hesitated, and then bowed slightly before getting the healing machine. The nanostitcher was set up and activated, using nanotechnology to speed up the natural healing process. But it wasn't enough. The blood was flowing too fast, the nanobots moving too slowly. He tried his hardest to speed it up, but he knew that it was hopeless. Even if the wound could somehow heal, she had already lost too much blood._

"_Keep the machine running," he ordered, when he knew there was nothing more he could do. He turned around and let out a heavy sigh._

"_Well, better go get this over with," the doctor sighed. He straightened up and headed towards the door to break the bad news to the poor woman's husband._

* * *

_The man was pacing back and forth in front of the delivery room when the door opened. He stopped and turned to see the doctor coming out and walking towards him._

"_Well?" the man asked. "How did it go?"_

"_I'm truly sorry, Anamura-san," the doctor started, and the colour started draining from the man's face. "We did the best we could, but…"_

"_What? But what?" Anamura prompted._

"_The baby was stillborn."_

_The man almost collapsed from the overwhelming sense of grief washing over him. _

"_What?" he whispered. The doctor lowered his head in sorrow. There was a moment of silence._

"_What… What about my wife…?" the man croaked._

"_Ah… Well…" the doctor said. "During the delivery, her womb was torn." Anamura's eyes widened._

"_Can you repair it?" he asked desperately._

"_We're trying our best, but I'm afraid the wound is too large to fix in time," the doctor replied. "The rate of blood loss is too fast. I'm sorry, but…" He closed his eyes. "Your wife isn't going to make it."_

_The poor man felt his world crashing down around it. The tears he had been holding back now flowed freely down his face. His legs finally gave out, and he fell onto his knees._

"_I'm sorry," the doctor said sincerely, putting a hand on his shoulder. The doctor then turned around and went back into the delivery room, leaving the man on his knees._

* * *

_{I'm going to die, aren't I?}_

_The woman already knew that she wasn't going to survive. She could feel the life draining from her even as the medical staff tried desperately to mend her womb. She wasn't frightened, though. Her only regret was that her child would grow up without his mother._

_{Dear Lord, I know that I'm going to join you soon,} she thought, as her vision started to darken. {I have only these requests as I leave this realm. Please help my dear husband to raise our child. Help him to find love again…} Her breathing became heavy and erratic, and her eyelids felt heavy._

_{And to my dear child…} A smile spread slowly across her face. {Grow up to be the best you can be. Listen to your father, and don't give him too much trouble, okay, sweetie? Be kind to others and never retaliate… I know you're going to become a great person… I may not be with you here, but I'll always watch over you from Heaven…}_

_With these final thoughts, her eyes finally closed, and she took her last breath._

* * *

_-BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPP…-_

"_Doctor…" the birthing nurse said softly. _

"_I know," he replied. He pulled the bed sheet over the woman's body and head, and then turned away. His eyes fell on the smaller corpse still on the table, and he walked over to it and looked at it sadly for a moment. He then got a small white corpse bag and started to slide the small body in. One of the arms was sort of spread, so he gently nudged it back to the baby's side._

_His eyes widened, and he quickly took his hand away. The body was a bit warmer than he expected. He felt it again and found it warmer still. He then placed his hand firmly on the body's abdomen, and found the temperature to be rising, slowly but surely, and enough to be noticeable. He quickly put his finger on the neck and found a faint pulse, which was getting stronger._

_Then the baby opened its eyes._

"_Dah."_

* * *

"_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUGH!"_

_Anamura snapped his head up at the terrified scream coming from the delivery room. Pushing his own pain aside for the moment, he got on his feet, wiped the tears from his eyes and ran inside, throwing the doors open._

"_What happened?" he yelled, alarmed. "What's the problem?"_

_He saw the doctor backed up against the wall to his left, shaking in fear._

"_UUUOOOOO! MONSTER! DEMON! VISHNU!" the doctor screamed, pointing with a trembling finger at a small table. Anamura walked cautiously closer to it and saw a baby crying its head off, scared senseless by the loud shout. _

_Anamura felt a sharp pang in his chest, and quickly snatched the baby up and started rocking it, trying to calm it down. As the baby's wail reduced to a sniffle, it was able to open its eyes, and the first thing that struck Anamura about those eyes was the fact that they had a concentric ring pattern in them. He nearly dropped the baby in shock, but quickly regained his composure. _

"_There, there," he said soothingly. "It's all right. Everything's okay now…"_

"_WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" the doctor shrieked. "Put that thing down! We have to dispose of it quickly!"_

"_This 'thing' is my child!" Anamura said indignantly._

"_Child? CHILD? ARE YOU MAD, MAN?" the doctor yelled. "That isn't a child! It's an abomination! It should be dead right now! It's a living corpse! Look at its eyes, for God's sake! Those are the eyes of the devil!"_

"_There's nothing wrong with his eyes," Anamura replied calmly. "And as for the resurrection thing…" He smiled slightly and lifted the baby high. "Let's just call that a miracle."_

"_Miracle? HA!" the doctor yelled. "It's a miracle, all right – a miracle from the depths of Hell! It's a curse! A curse, I tell you! And if you won't listen to me, then get out of my hospital, and take your 'miracle' with you!"_

_And with that, Anamura was 'escorted' rather forcefully out of the building. He sighed as the door slammed shut in his face._

"_Well, look at that," he remarked, looking down at the baby in his arms. "Barely an hour old and you're already causing trouble."_

"_Da~buh!" the baby gurgled happily._

"_Making sound already?" Anamura smiled, gently tickling the baby's stomach with his finger. "You're pretty smart, you know that?" The baby giggled happily, then grabbed onto his father's finger with his small hand. "I don't care what they say. Demon or not, you're still my child." The baby looked up at him with those ringed eyes, and he noticed now that they were blue._

"_Welcome to the world… Anamura Nathaniel."_

* * *

"So that's how it was…" Kyle mused, putting his hand on his chin. The four were sitting at a table outside a confectionery. Jiko was licking an ice cream cone, and there was an empty bowl in front of Kyle on the table. "So that's why people hate you so much?"

"Yeah," Nat replied. "That's what the Answer-Talker showed me when I asked how I got my power, and, more specifically, why I was so despised." He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "Now, look at it not as a friend, but as a person: doesn't it sort of look like I stole my mother's life?"

Kyle remained silent. Nat let out a sigh.

_Well, there goes the only friend I've ever had, _he thought. After a long silence, Kyle spoke.

"Well, that's just dumb!" he declared, folding his arms.

_Eh?_

"That's not even a reason! I mean, what kind of idiot would hate someone because their mother died during childbirth? It wasn't your fault, was it? Of course not! Honestly, I've lost my faith in this city. I thought it was because maybe you were a show-off or a know-it-all, or committed some great crime or abused your power in some way, but I would never have imagined it was for a stupid reason like that." He looked at Nat with sincerity in his eyes. "Don't worry, I'm not going to abandon you like the rest of the city just because some quack doctor couldn't get his facts straight. And whether you were dead before doesn't mean a thing to me. You're my friend, no matter what anyone else thinks of you."

Nat stared for a moment, speechless, as a grin crossed Kyle's face.

"Besides, you know that means you're, like, a living zombie, right? That is _unbelievably_ cool."

Slowly, happy tears gathered at the corners of Nat's eyes, and he began to tremble.

"You…" he said, his voice choked with emotion. Dante and Jiko shared a grin.

"How-e-ver~," Kyle continued with a nervous grin on his face, raising a finger. "That being the case, I'm still sort of freaking out a bit on the inside here, so could you please stay about a metre away from me until tomorrow?"

Nat face-faulted off his chair, while Dante and Jiko sweat-dropped.

_And he completely ruins the moment_.

"Kyle!" Nat yelled, getting up and holding his head.

"Hahaha, I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Kyle grinned, flashing a peace sign. Nat sighed. "Fifty centimetres, then?"

A rage vein popped up on Nat's head.

"KYLE!" he yelled, jumping at Kyle, who leapt out of his chair and dashed off. Nat chased after him. "Get back here!"

"Nooooo, get away!" Kyle shouted jokingly, running as if his life depended on it. Jiko sweat-dropped again, and Dante just shook his head.

_He might be carefree and have a sense of humour the size of Neptune, with no care for timing or emotional moments, _Nat thought, as they ran around with grins on their faces, _but if there's one thing I know, it's that Kyle is definitely a good friend._


	15. Level 15: The Unlucky One

Jiko was seated on a bench close to the park gates. She swung her legs and stared at the gate as if she was waiting for something. Then her ears picked up something and a grin spread on her face.

"Dante!"

She leapt off the bench and ran towards the gate.

"Hi, Dante!" she yelled, waving at him as he approached. He jumped over the gate and landed in front of her with a huge grin on his face.

"Morning, Jiko!" he said. "Sorry to keep you waiting! Let's have lots of fun today!"

"Yeah!" Jiko agreed, nodding. Dante suddenly noticed something.

"Hm?" he went. "It looks like there's a new kid at the park today!"

Jiko followed his gaze to the sandbox, where a small boy was sitting, making a sandcastle. He had untamed black hair and was wearing dark blue shorts and a mantle which reached just above his knees, as well as black shoes.

"Hey, you!" Ritchie, the biggest kid in the park and the 'playground bully', went up to the sandbox. He was a nasty piece of work, with short blond hair and dark eyes, who wore a red T-shirt with the words "I'm with stupid" on the front and blue pants. He wasn't bad-looking, but he was very mean and liked to use his size to get what he wanted.

"That's my shovel you're using, tiny!" Ritchie said, with a sneer on his face. "Hand it over!"

The boy stopped digging, and then turned his head to face Ritchie. He had purple eyes and a calm look on his face, but there was something about him that made Ritchie shiver.

"Huh? This is yours?" he said. "Sorry, I had no idea, honest. Here you go." He held out the small plastic shovel to Ritchie. However, Ritchie was rather preoccupied with what he saw just behind the boy: the Shinigami reaching an icy hand out towards him, scythe at the ready to harvest his soul.

"N-no, that's okay, keep it," Ritchie said quickly. "I wasn't really using it anyway! See ya!" He turned and ran. The purple-eyed boy tilted his head in confusion as he stared back at Ritchie's retreating figure.

"Whoa, did you see that?" Dante said, awed. "That guy scared Ritchie away without even lifting a finger!"

"Yeah…" Jiko murmured. _I've only ever seen Dante do that. To be able to do that, he must be really scary. _"Um, let's not get too close to him, okay, Dante – Dante?" She stared at the empty spot beside her where Dante had been a second ago. _Where did he…?_

"That was pretty impressive, what you just did!"

"Gack!" Jiko looked over to the sandbox to see Dante talking to the purple-eyed boy. Her jaw dropped.

_Dante, what are you doing!_

"Huh? I didn't do anything…" the boy replied.

"I'm Dante! What's your name?" Dante asked. The boy looked at him for a moment before answering.

"Austin," he replied, turning his attention back to his sandcastle. "Austin Mel."

"Nice to meet you, Austin Mel!" Dante said. "Hey, you're a mamodo, right?"

Austin's head whipped round to stare at him with wide, shocked eyes.

_Wha – How – How did he – _

"Yeah, I was shocked when he did that, too," Jiko said, walking up to them and scratching the back of her head. Austin looked up at her, and she gave a shy smile. "Hello…"

"Oh, Austin, this is Jiko!" Dante said, grinning. "She's my best friend!" He put his arm round her shoulder and pulled her in so that their cheeks were pressed up against each other. A blush spread on Jiko's face, which Dante didn't notice. Austin did notice, however, and a small smile came onto his face.

"Best friend, huh?" he mused quietly. He turned back to his sandcastle. "Must be nice to have those. Friends, I mean."

Dante and Jiko were surprised by this.

"What do you mean?" Dante asked. "Don't you have any?"

"Yeah, I had a few friends back in the Mamodo World," Austin replied. He poked at the sand with a stick. "But they've dumped me now that we're in the King Tournament. And unlike you, I can't make friends easily. I usually end up scaring people away, and the kids I don't scare away are almost always shitty bastards that feed off of others' pain. I'm usually the one running off then." A sad smile crossed his face.

"That's horrible…" Jiko murmured sympathetically.

"Yeah," Dante agreed. "Especially since you seem to be a good person."

A light bulb lit in his head.

"Hey, you wanna come play with us?"

A look of alarm flashed over Jiko's face.

"O-okay!" Austin beamed, a little too enthusiastically (he thought), then caught himself and nonchalantly added, "Um, I mean, sure, you know, if you really want me to…"

"Come on, then!" Dante replied, grinning. "We're going on the jungle gym." He helped Austin up onto his feet.

Austin was elated as he dusted off his mantle and followed them. This almost _never _happened.

_Okay, Austin, you can do this, _he thought, as he walked beside the two. _Just try not to scare them away. They have a good aura about them, you don't know if another opportunity like this will come. You can't afford to screw this up!_

"Dante," Jiko whispered. Dante turned to look at her. "Are you sure about this?"

"What are you talking about?" Dante asked, cocking his head.

"We don't know that this guy isn't pretending," Jiko said. "This could be a trap or something. He could be trying to get us to lower our guard and attack us. You know, like Trevor did?"

Austin caught that last part. He shook his head.

"You don't need to worry about that," he said, startling the two. "I don't attack other mamodo unless they attack first. And besides, even if I wanted to, my book owner wouldn't listen to me."

"Your book owner?" Jiko asked.

"Yeah," Austin replied. "The owner of my spellbook is like a demon. He's pure evil."

"Come on, he can't be _that_ bad," Dante said.

"Oh, he's bad," Austin replied. "In fact, I'm lucky I could come to the park today. Usually he'd just ignore me. And sometimes he even locks me out of the house. There was this one time, he actually chained me to the doghouse because I kept on pestering him to take me out to play. I couldn't even move because the chain was so short."

"Whoa," Dante said. "That's pretty horrible."

"You think that's bad? There was one time I was asking him to bring me to the park, and he ignored me. I kept pestering him, and then he finally told me that if I was so bored, I should go outside and watch the grass grow."

Austin paused to make sure they were listening.

"And then he literally made me sit outside on the lawn and watch the grass grow. For the whole day."

Dante and Jiko's eyes widened.

"No way," Dante said, shocked.

"Yup," Austin said. "Glued my butt to the ground, to make sure I didn't bother him anymore, so I had to wait until his mom came home and got the glue remover."

"Oh, wow," Jiko said.

"Yeah, it was pretty desperate. But as hard as it is to believe, he's actually become much better. Nothing he's ever done could possibly be as bad as the first time we met."

Austin took a short breath, and then began:

"It was a few weeks ago. I bumped into him on a bridge. I was still looking for my book owner, so I showed him the book. He opened it and read my first spell, then after it had been cast, he looked at me with this shocked expression for a minute, and then he asked me – and this is a direct quote – 'What the hell did you just do?'

"So I explained to him about the King Tournament, about all the rules and everything. And when I finished, he just looked at the book and said, 'So if I take this book, then I have to fight with you in this huge battle?' And I nodded. Then he looked at the book some more, went, 'Huh,' and then dropped the book into the fast-flowing river below it."

Dante and Jiko gasped.

"What?" Dante exclaimed.

"Yeah, he dropped my spellbook into the river. Then he said, 'No way in friggin' hell' and walked off."

"What did you do?" Jiko asked.

"I jumped right in after it, of course. What else could I do?" Austin shivered, the memory of the dip crystal clear in his mind. "I somehow managed to get the book back, but the current was way too strong. I ended up getting washed 100km away, onto some farmer's land. He chased me out, and I had to walk over a hundred miles looking around for the guy.

"I finally found his house after about a week of wandering around, sopping wet, starving, dirty, and my clothes in tatters. He opened the door, took one look at me, and shut it in my face. I had to wait until his mom came home about five hours later and asked him why there was a dirty starving nine-year-old in the yard, and let me in."

The other two mamodo had their mouths wide open in disbelief.

_This isn't just a demon we're talking about here, _they thought, _it's the devil incarnate! _

"Oh, it's not like he hates me," Austin said, seeing the looks on their faces. "He's like that to everyone – always cold and distant. I guess that's why he doesn't have any friends – he scares them away, like me. It's actually kinda funny." He looked up into the sky. "Even though he acts that way, though, he's really a good person. I wonder what he's doing now…"

* * *

During recess, Nat was sitting at his spot under the tree when three girls passing by started giggling and waved to him. He blushed and waved back.

"Hey! Nat!" a voice called, and Nat turned to see Kyle coming towards him. A grin spread on his face.

"Hey!" he answered. "You made it!"

"Yup!" Kyle said. "Sorry I'm late, I had a hard time getting away from my classmates. This stopping the bank robbers business has been a real bother. You stop one wanted criminal and suddenly everyone wants a piece of you." He scratched the back of his head irritably. "And it's even worse for me because – you know." He played an air guitar to get the point across.

Stopping Sid and Logan from robbing the bank had made the two sort of local heroes. There was a huge article about it in the news stream – top story, no less.

Nat laughed. "I can't really say I understand where you're coming from, but I get the extra attention part. People are actually treating me like a human now. I even got a couple of high fives!"

"But of course," Kyle said smugly. "That's expected. Now that you've gotten yourself in the news, people are finally starting to see how awesome of a person you are!" He grinned and put one foot on the bench. "You haven't reached my level yet, though."

"Whatever you say." Something caught Nat's eye, and he turned to get a better look. "Hey, Kyle, who's that?"

Nat was looking at a boy sitting on a bench with his head in a book. He was about fifteen years old, with messy yellowish-brown hair and dark eyes, and a rather emotionless look on his face. He was wearing the school uniform, including the blazer, but Nat had never seen him before today.

"Oh, that's Takato Mizuno," Kyle said. "He's a new student in my class, just transferred here from Kyoto. He's a bit of a genius – apparently has a really high IQ, about the same as Lisa Summers from your class, though it's not as high as yours – but he pretty much just keeps to himself. He isn't really a people person, I guess."

"What makes you say that?" Nat asked, eyebrow raised.

"Well, I tried to strike up a conversation with him, but it didn't go down well…"

* * *

"_Now, class, we have a new student from Kyoto joining us today," the teacher said. "This is Mizuno Takato." The boy was standing in front of the class reading a book. "Mizuno, why don't you introduce yourself?"_

"_You literally just did that," Takato answered, without looking up. "Where do I sit?"_

_The teacher was a bit taken aback by his answer. "... Well, you can have that seat next to Roberts." He gestured at the empty seat next to Kyle's. _

"_Thanks," the boy said, as if he didn't mean it at all, but was required to say it. He went and took his seat. Kyle turned to him and grinned._

"_Yo," he said. "My name's –"_

"_I don't really care," Takato said, without bothering to look up. "I don't converse with idiots."_

* * *

"He completely ignored anything I said after that," Kyle said. "In the end, I had to give up because I was sent out by the teacher for 'disturbing the peace'."

Kyle suddenly had an idea.

"Hey, why don't _you _try and talk to him?" he suggested.

"Eh?"

"Just listen, I just remembered something. Lisa from your class came to our class on an errand, and when she greeted him, I think he actually looked up and nodded at her. That means he will only respond to a genius like himself. And if he acknowledged the presence of an equal, then you should be able to at least force a sentence out of him."

Nat though for a moment. He doubted that Kyle's reasoning would work out – he didn't exactly have a good history with people – but he might as well give it a shot. He had nothing to lose.

He got up and started walking over, but before he got close, Takato looked up from the book, got up and took off.

"H-hey, wait!" Nat yelled, going after him.

"Hey!" They went over outdoor tables…

"Wait a second!" Swung through the trees…

"I said wait!" And even went over the rooftops.

A few minutes later, Nat leaned against one of the school buildings, panting heavily. Takato had managed to get away from him.

_Darn it, _Nat thought. _Well, at least I tried… Why was he running, though…? _

Unbeknownst to Nat, the student was actually a few floors directly above him, in a classroom. He looked down at Nat's retreating figure.

_So that's the smartest guy in this school…_ he thought. He wiped sweat from his forehead.

_Phew! That was close. If he'd gotten any closer, there's no way I could ignore him!_

* * *

Jiko was sitting on the ground in the park, beside the gate, with her legs drawn up to her chest. She looked at the open gate as if she was expecting something. She perked up and stared at a dust cloud in the distance, which was steadily growing. At the head of this dust cloud were Dante and Austin. The three mamodo had decided to race around half of the city five times, starting and ending at the park.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" the two mamodo yelled out, neck and neck, trying to pass each other. Their eyes bulged out as they ran as fast as they could – which, judging from the dust they were kicking up and the trail of fire they left behind, was pretty darn fast.

They flew past the gate and over the stick they used as a finish line, and then screeched to a halt and both yelled, "I WIN!" before falling over onto their backs, exhausted.

"No, I win!" Dante yelled, panting.

"What are you talking about? I obviously crossed the line first!"

"No, you didn't! I did!"

"No, _I_ did!"

"Um, actually…" Jiko said. Dante and Austin turned their heads to look at her.

"Oh, hi, Jiko," Dante said. "How'd you get there? I thought you were racing with us."

"Ehehehehe, yeah…" Jiko said, and scratched the back of her head. _How do I explain to him that I couldn't keep up with them…? _She had dropped out by the second lap due to exhaustion.

"That doesn't matter right now," Austin said. "Jiko, you saw when we finished, right? Who crossed first?" He gave her a giant wink as he asked.

"Austin!" Dante said, in a shocked tone. "How could you try to influence the judge's decision? Shame on you." He shook his head at Austin, then turned to Jiko with a bad boy grin, which made Jiko blush, and mouthed, 'It was me, wasn't it?'

"Um… Well… Actually, it was a tie. You both crossed the finish line at the same time."

Both Dante's and Austin's jaws hit the ground.

"At the same time…" Austin repeated.

"Well, I guess that means neither of us won," Dante said. "Or rather we're both winners."

"Yeah," Austin muttered. "Next time, though, I'll definitely beat you!" A grin spread on his face. Dante grinned back.

"Heh… I look forward to it!" he said, and the two boys bumped fists.

"Hey! Dante! Jiko! Time to go!"

The three kids turned to the gate and saw Nat and Kyle standing there. Dante got up and nodded.

"Huh?" Austin said. "You guys are going already?" His voice was heavy with disappointment.

"Yeah, sorry…" Dante said apologetically. "We'll be coming back tomorrow, so…"

"Yeah, but I probably won't," Austin muttered. "Besides, knowing my book owner, he's probably forgotten me here…" A depressed aura surrounded him.

Nat and Kyle came into the park and walked over.

"Are you guys ready to go yet?" Kyle asked. Nat then noticed Austin.

"Dante, who's this?"

"Oh, this is our new friend, Austin Mel!" Dante replied. "He's a mamodo too. He's a bit sad because we're leaving and his book owner hasn't come yet."

Nat looked at Austin's hunched form and started to feel bad. An idea popped into his head.

"Hey, why don't you come along with us? Then we can drop you off at your partner's place."

Austin looked up at him in surprise. "Really?"

"Sure! You know where his place is, right?"

Austin nodded. "It's just past Jinka Avenue."

"Jinka Avenue, huh? That's to the southwest…" Nat mused.

"Is that far out of your way…?"

"Sort of," Nat admitted. "It's in the exact opposite direction."

"Oh…" Austin muttered, downcast. _I guess that means I'm sleeping out tonight…_

Nat turned to Kyle. "Kyle, do you mind?"

"Nah, it's not really that far," Kyle said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Okay, then, it's settled!" Nat turned to Austin. "Come on."

Austin stared in surprise for a moment. Then he smiled and nodded.

From a nearby tree, a pair of eyes looked out at the group as they left the park, watching…

* * *

The group soon arrived at the beginning of Jinka Avenue, a wide road bordered by trees.

"Here we are," Nat said. "You know where his house is, right?"

"Yeah, it's at the end of the street," Austin said.

There was a short moment of silence.

"… Austin…" Dante said. "The street ends at a three-way intersection…"

Austin blinked. "Oh, yeah."

The other four sweat-dropped.

"W-well, at least you know which one his house is down, right?" Jiko said.

"Of course I do! How stupid do you think I am?" Austin said indignantly. He pointed at the path in the middle. "It's down that one!"

"Okay, then!" Nat said, and raised his hand in farewell. "We'll leave the rest to you –"

"No, wait, it's that one," Austin said, pointing at the one on the right. "Or is it that one…?" He looked at the one on the left. The other four sweat-dropped again.

_Make up your mind…_ they thought.

Nat sighed. "I guess we'll have to go down each street until we find his house."

"Sorry for the trouble…" Austin said.

"Don't worry about it," Nat said, waving a hand dismissively. "We didn't have anything to do at home anyway. Let's start with the right path."

Everyone nodded and they started walking again. Dante suddenly froze, eyes widened.

_A mamodo! _he thought. _But it's a very faint presence… Right below me? _He looked down and saw a small rocket at his feet. _A model rocket? _He picked it up and examined it. It was red and white, and had a large white N on the front.

"Dante!" Nat called. Dante looked up and saw the rest of the group looking back at him. "You coming?"

"Yeah, sorry, I got distracted," Dante replied. He tossed the rocket behind him and hurried to catch up.

The rocket landed on the side of the road, beside a large oak tree. After a moment of silence, it spoke.

"Ow!" it exclaimed. "What the heck was that for? He didn't have to toss me like that!" It huffed.

"Stop whining," A voice said from the tree's branches. A tall man dropped down and picked up the rocket. He was 36, with curly black hair reaching to his shoulders, covering one of his brown eyes. He also had a moustache and an untidy beard, and looked as if he was drunk. He wore a purple unbuttoned shirt with unbuttoned sleeves, black tight trousers, and black shoes. The shirt flaunted his slim, hairy chest, and under his right arm was a burgundy-coloured spellbook.

"Easy for you to say!" the rocket snapped. "You're not the one who was just carelessly thrown against a tree. But at least my suspicions were correct. Three strong mamodo presences, all in the same place."

Four other figures dropped from the surrounding trees and landed behind the rocket and the man holding it.

"Come on, boys," the man holding the rocket said. "Time for some book burning."


	16. Level 16: Ambush

"Is it that one?" Dante asked

"No…"

"Then could it be that one there?" Nat asked.

"No, it isn't that one either…"

"Oh! Maybe it's that one!" Kyle said.

"I don't think that's it…"

"You should at least know which house you're staying at!" Dante said, slightly irritated.

"Sorry, but all the houses here look the same!" Austin said defensively.

Nat, Dante, Jiko and Kyle had to admit that Austin had a point. All the residential buildings around them were identical in appearance, at least from the outside: red, with blue roofs and brown automatic doors.

_This is going to be harder than I thought… _Nat thought.

Unbeknownst to them, two figures were standing on a square shop building beside them. One was a boy who was about eleven years old, with black hair and violet eyes. He wore a black shirt, denim jeans, and sandals. The other was a man about 23 years old, with shaggy red hair and green eyes. He wore a white shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers, and was holding a light green spellbook.

"You sure this is a good idea?" the older one asked. "Can't one of them sense mamodo energy?"

The younger one grinned. "Heh, don't worry about it, Shiro. I've masked my presence, not even Nitros would be able to sense me. These guys won't know what hit 'em."

"If you say so, CJ," Shiro said. "Time to start the ambush." He held up the light green book, which started glowing brightly, and CJ held out his hands, aiming at the group.

"Sukogi!" he chanted, and large green thorns shot out from CJ's hands towards the group.

An alarm went off in Nat's head, and he looked up and saw the thorns falling to them. His eyes widened.

_HOLY –_

"Everybody move forward! NOW!" he yelled.

"Huh?"

"Don't ask! Just DO IT!" He pushed Kyle, Dante, Jiko and Austin forward and dove after them, a split second before the thorns smashed into the ground where the five had been standing just before. As Nat got up, the other four stared at the thorns with wide, shocked eyes.

"Hmm? They dodged it," CJ said.

"Did anyone hear a spell?" Nat asked. The three mamodo shook their heads.

"I didn't hear anything," Austin said.

"Me neither," Jiko said. Dante looked up and his eyes widened.

"Up there!" he said, pointing up at the roof. The others looked up and saw CJ and Shiro looking down at them.

"Oh, looks like they've noticed us," CJ said.

"Who cares?" Shiro said. "Now we don't have to hide anything. Let's show them how strong we are."

CJ grinned and stopped suppressing his power. Dante's eyes widened.

_His power just surged drastically!_

"AHAHAHAHA! That felt good!" CJ's grin widened. "Now we're going to kill you~"

"Sukogi!" Shiro chanted, and CJ fired larger, serrated red thorns at them.

"Crap!" Nat exclaimed. He whipped out his spellbook. "Dante!" _Get ready!_

Dante nodded. "Yup!" The yellow spellbook started glowing brightly.

"Fashield!"

Five stars appeared, and the yellow pyramid shield was formed around the five. The thorns smashed into it and crumbled.

Shiro raised an eyebrow. "Hm? Looks like they have a decent shield spell."

_Now aim up at the roof! _

Dante aimed at the roof of the shop.

"Farga!"

The shield disappeared, and the five stars shot out beams which smashed into the shop roof, destroying a large part of it. The roof started to cave in.

"Whoa!" CJ yelled, eyes wide. The two were stumbling on the crumbling roof, trying to avoid falling in – and failing. Nat and Dante turned and started running down the street.

"Come on!" Nat called. "This way!" Kyle, Jiko and Austin followed suit.

"Wait, where are we going?" Kyle said.

"This road ends a short distance from the thinnest part of the city outskirts," Nat explained. "From there we can get to the grassy area outside the city." He turned his head sideways to face Kyle. "We have to lead them away from here, or normal people who have nothing to do with the Battle could get hurt!"

Back at the roofless shop building, CJ and Shiro were hanging by their armpits and trying to pull themselves up out of the top of the shop.

"Those little shitheads!" CJ spat. "I'll crush 'em!"

"Idiots," said a voice from across the road. "It's your fault for rushing into things."

CJ and Shiro looked up in surprise and saw another pair on the roof of the building across. One of them was a girl about nine years old, with red eyes and two lines on her face, one for each side, starting at the bottom of each eye and running down her cheeks. She was wearing a short red dress with a white hem, white knee-high socks and black sneakers, and a blue baseball cap was crammed on her head, with a long black ponytail that was past her waist sticking out the back. The other was a 20-year-old male with black hair and sunglasses that hid his eyes, who wore an open black jacket over a white shirt, black jeans, and black loafers. Under his arm was a greyish-green spellbook.

"Pitiful," the girl continued, shaking her head. "You never learn, do you, CJ?" CJ gritted his teeth in anger.

"Shut up, Ansethamy," he snapped. The girl narrowed her eyes and a rage vein popped up on her head.

"I _told _you _never_ to call me that!" she replied sharply. "My name is Seth!" She lowered her head and exhaled. "Whatever. Those guys are getting away. If I stay here arguing with a dung head like you, we'll lose them." She turned her head away from CJ and Shiro. "Come on, Jean." The guy behind her nodded, and they jumped off the roof onto the road and started to give chase.

"HEY!" CJ yelled. "GET BACK HERE!" He struggled to pull himself over, without much success. "Aw, screw this. Shiro!"

Shiro nodded and his spellbook started glowing.

"Raizuko!" he chanted, and vines erupted from the road and smashed into the shop, breaking the front. CJ and Shiro fell and landed on their feet.

"Come on, we have to catch up!" CJ said. They started to run down the street after Anse – I mean, Seth and Jean.

"Hey," Shiro said suddenly, turning his head to face CJ. "When do you think Nitros and Castor'll show up?"

CJ looked back at him for a moment. Then a grin spread on his face.

"Heh," he said, turning his attention back to his front, "knowing them, they're probably there already."

* * *

In a dark room, a figure was snoring in bed, sound asleep. The figure stirred for a moment, then went back to sleep.

* * *

Dante and Nat slid down the slope and onto the grass without stopping, followed shortly by Austin and Jiko. Kyle brought up the rear.

"Now what?" he asked, panting slightly.

"Now would be a good time to surrender."

The group skidded to a stop and looked forward to see a tall, apparently drunk man holding a small red and white rocket in his right hand, and a burgundy-coloured spellbook in his left. He gave a two finger salute. Upon seeing the rocket, Dante's eyes widened.

"It's that rocket from before!" he exclaimed, and the others turned to look at him. "The one I felt mamodo energy from!"

_That must be why he stopped that time, _Nat realised. Then the rocket spoke.

"Correct," it said. "You're pretty sharp, kid. Unfortunately for you, you couldn't see this coming. I got ya right where I want you." The burgundy spellbook started glowing brightly.

"Baruk!" the man chanted, and the rocket flew out of his hand, hovered above the ground and started glowing with a red aura. It transformed into a boy about seven years old, wearing a red super villain costume with white gloves and boots, and a big design on the front; a big white N surrounded by barbed wire, with a missile going through it. He had spiky yellow hair, with two parts sticking out for ears, a pointed nose, and lines running down his face, one for each side, starting at the bottom of each eye and running down his cheeks. He raised his head to show green eyes filled with evil, and a grin spread across his face, revealing crazy sharp teeth.

The five stared at him for a moment. Then they all sweat-dropped.

"What the hell…" Kyle said, voicing the group's thoughts.

"Sukogi!"

Serrated red thorns smashed into the ground beside them, making Kyle and Jiko jump a bit.

"Crap," Austin said. "Looks like they've caught up."

"Indeed we have," said a voice from behind, and they turned to see CJ, Shiro, Seth and Jean standing behind them.

"Oh, look, Nitros and Castor are already here," Seth continued.

"End of the road for you," CJ said, cracking his knuckles. "Time to die, weaklings."

_So it wasn't just him, _Nat thought, looking at Seth and Jean. _There were two other teams after us. _

"An ambush," Dante muttered. Nat nodded.

_How do we do this?_ Nat thought. _I can't really count in Austin – his book owner isn't here – so it's three against two. Not very good odds, but…_

"Okay," he started. "We'll take Doctor Nebula –"

"NITROS!"

"– and the thorn guy," Nat continued, pointedly ignoring Nitros's outburst. "Kyle, can you two take the girl?"

Kyle nodded. "No problem." He pulled his spellbook out. "You ready, Jiko?"

Jiko nodded and took a battle-ready stance in front of him, facing Seth. Four stars appeared around Dante, two pointing at CJ and Shiro, two at Nitros and Castor.

"Hm?" Nitros hummed, raising an eyebrow. "You're going to try to fight us? Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Well, we're not handing our books over," Nat replied, "so we don't really have a choice, do we?"

Nitros shrugged. "Suit yourself." He put up his left hand, his pointy fingers spread wide.

"Firsen!" Castor chanted, and a missile was fired from Nitros's hand.

"Sukogi!" Shiro said. Serrated red thorns shot from CJ's hands.

"Accruk!" Jean chanted. Seth shot forward at incredible speed and ran towards Jiko. Kyle and Nat's spellbooks started glowing.

"Garon!" The metal flail shot out of Jiko's outstretched left hand and slammed into Seth, sending her flying back. She stood up shakily and wiped a trickle of blood from her mouth.

"Farga!" The beams from the stars destroyed the missile and the thorns before it could reach them.

Nitros blinked, and CJ stared, shocked. A grin spread on Nitros's face, and he let out a chilling chuckle.

"This should be interesting…"

* * *

The sleeping figure stirred, sat up and yawned loudly, then got up and got a glass of water. The figure sat on the bed and drank the water, put the glass down and paused for a moment, as if thinking about something, then shrugged and went back to sleep.

* * *

"Ganzu Garon!"

Jiko fired a barrage of spiked metal spheres at submachine speed. The spheres flew towards Seth, who smirked as Jean read a spell.

"Accruk!"

Seth shot into the barrage of spheres, dodging all of them easily, and got in front of Jiko.

"Too slow," she said.

"Am Accruk!" Jean chanted, and Seth's arms were covered in a faint glow. She started throwing punches at insane speed, at least 50 per second, most of which Jiko managed to block by crossing her arms in front of her to protect herself. Jiko finally caught one of Seth's arms and threw an uppercut into her chin, sending her flying back. Jiko wiped the blood from her mouth with the back of her right hand.

"Raizuko!"

CJ slammed his hand down on the ground, and large vines erupted from the ground under Nat and Dante and gripped them before they could move out of the way.

"Firsen!"

Nitros fired a missile at the two as they struggled to get free.

"Dante!" Nat yelled. _Concentrate on the vines!_

Dante nodded and the four stars aimed at the vines holding them.

"Farga!" The beams disintegrated the vines easily, and Nat and Dante landed on the ground. Dante sprang up and caught the missile headed for them and threw it at CJ and Shiro, whose eyes widened. They jumped out of the way in the nick of time, and the missile slammed into and blew up the area where they had been a second ago. Dante quickly aimed at Nitros and Castor.

"Dame Farga!" The 4x4 laser grid wall was formed and zoomed at Nitros. He quickly put his hands up as the laser wall approached.

"Firrashield!"

A huge rocket appeared and split open. The laser wall zoomed into it, and it quickly closed and flew at Nat and Dante.

"Whoa!" Dante exclaimed. He and Nat ducked to avoid the giant rocket, which soared over their heads and towards CJ and Shiro.

"Aw, come on!" CJ yelled. He quickly put his hands forward.

"Hinakishield!" Shiro yelled, and grass shot up from the ground and hardened, forming a tough, brown circular shield. The rocket slammed into it, bringing up a veil of smoke.

Austin stood a few feet away, trying to keep out of everyone's way.

_Darn it, _he thought. _I wish I could help, but without my spells, I'd probably just get in the way…_

Nat and Dante glanced back at CJ and Shiro, and then quickly turned back to Nitros.

"Ganzu Firsen!" Castor chanted, and Nitros split into three. Two of them rushed at Nat and Dante, and fired missiles at them. Dante quickly aimed at the missiles.

"Farga!" Nat yelled, and stars appeared and shot beams at the missiles, causing them to explode, and bringing up a veil of smoke. The smoke cleared to reveal that all three Nitros had disappeared.

"Huh?" Dante said, confused. An alarm went off in Nat's head, and he looked back to see Nitros behind them, with a grin on his face.

"Gotcha."

A missile shot out of his hand and flew towards Nat and Dante.

"Dante!" Nat yelled.

"Right!" Dante aimed at the incoming missile.

"Far–"

"Raizuko!" Vines erupted from the ground and coiled around Nat and Dante, holding them to the ground, and one wrapped itself around Nat's mouth, gagging him.

Jiko pushed Seth away and looked back. Her eyes widened in horror. "Dante! Nat!"

Kyle swore and tried to run to them, but was blocked by Jean.

_Oh, crap! _Nat thought. The missile was right in front of them now, and they couldn't avoid it. The two shut their eyes and struggled with all their might, trying hard to get free of the vines before they were hit, but the vines were too tough, and without a spell, they couldn't be broken. They were doomed.

BOOM!

Or maybe not.

Nat and Dante opened their eyes to see Austin standing in front of them, his arms spread out. He was panting, and blood was trickling down his forehead. Jiko and Kyle both let out a sigh of relief, and Nitros stared, shocked.

Then Austin sprang forward.

"YAAAAAAAAHHH!" he yelled, as he threw a punch into Nitros's face that sent him flying down into the ground. He landed hard, and Austin landed on him.

"Forgetting someone?" Austin asked, raising his fist. Nitros looked at him for a second, and then a smile spread on his face

"Idiot," he muttered. "You got the wrong one."

Austin's eyes widened. "Huh?"

The clone disappeared under him.

"Austin!" Dante yelled. "Behind you!"

Austin turned to see the real Nitros was in the air behind him. Nitros grinned and fired a missile from his hand, which hit Austin and exploded, throwing him back into a tree. He dropped to the ground and shakily got up to see Nitros standing in front of him.

"AUSTIN!" Dante yelled.

"One down," Nitros said, "two to go." Austin closed his eyes and crossed his arms in front of him to protect himself.

"Austin!" yelled a voice from above. A hand swung down, two fingers on the target. "Set!"

Austin opened his eyes, grinned, and faced forward, spreading out his arms. The others were surprised by the sudden shout.

"The first spell…"

Austin's eyes faded to white, and his mouth opened and started gathering purple energy. Nitros raised an eyebrow.

"ANKERU!"

A blast of purple energy blasted from Austin's mouth and engulfed Nitros for a minute, before he was thrown back from the sheer force of being hit at point-blank range. He landed hard on the ground and skidded back quite a bit, before getting up shakily.

"What the…"

Austin's eyes went back to normal, and he grinned. "Finally… My book owner showed up…"

Nat, Dante, Jiko and Kyle looked up at the figure standing above on the edge of the slope, and both Nat and Kyle's eyes widened.

Kyle gasped. "That's…!"


	17. Level 17: NEVER Insult My Intellect

"The first spell… ANKERU!"

A blast of purple energy shot from Austin's mouth and engulfed Nitros for a moment before he was blown back. He landed hard on the ground and skidded back, then got up shakily.

"What…" he started.

Austin's eyes faded back in and he grinned. "Heh… My book owner's finally here… Now I can help you guys." He turned to the figure standing on the slope. "What took you so long?"

"Heh." A grin spread on the book owner's face. "It's not like you're the first thing that I think of when I come home. But apparently I can't leave you alone for one second without you getting us into trouble."

Nat and Kyle looked up at the figure standing on the slope above, and their eyes widened.

"Isn't that… It is!" Kyle muttered. "Takato Mizuno!"

And indeed, Takato was the one standing on the slope, holding out a dark magenta spellbook. His yellowish-brown hair was roughed up, as if he had just gotten up from bed, and he was wearing a dark overcoat. He slid down the slope and looked over at Nitros.

"Oi, you," he said, pointing. "Let's get one thing straight. No one hurts the brat but me." Nitros glared at him maliciously.

"You alright, Austin?" Takato asked. Austin nodded. "Good. Although I can't see _how, _seeing as you're up against five mamodo…"

Austin shook his head. "No, only those two boys and that girl in the cap –" He pointed at Nitros, CJ and Seth respectively. "- are attacking us. The other two are the ones who've been fighting them up till just now. They're on our side."

"Hm?" Takato looked up at Nat, Dante, Kyle and Jiko. His jaw dropped when he saw Nat and Kyle, and a dark shadow crossed his face.

_Shit! _he thought. _It's that genius guy and the stupid-looking idiot from school! Do I have the worst luck in the world or something? _He put his hand on his chin. _But wait a minute… They were the ones that were fighting before I got here, so they must be pretty strong. And if that's the case…_

"Austin, we're going home," he said, and turned around. "Come on!"

"Huh?" Austin said, surprised. "But my friends –"

"Are more than capable of beating these guys themselves," Takato said, cutting him off. "We'd probably just get in the way anyway!" He reached out, grabbed Austin's arm and yanked, but Austin didn't budge.

"One of them almost got their book burnt just now!"

"Then we'll have one less enemy to worry about! Come _on_!" Takato started dragging Austin away. Everyone else stared in disbelief. After a while, a grin spread on Nitros's face.

"Oh, I see," he said. "You're afraid of fighting, aren't you? You're just a big coward."

Takato stopped without turning back and just stood for a moment. Then he turned around with a happy grin.

"You know, I really don't mind," he beamed. "I just want to get out of here as soon as possible, so you can call me whatever you want! See ya!" He turned back and started walking off again, dragging Austin behind him, who was protesting loudly. A rage vein popped up on Nitros's forehead.

"It must be because your mom's calling," he said. "Mamma's boy."

"She _did _say I should get home on time," Takato replied, without stopping.

"Could it be because you don't think you're strong enough to fight us?" Nitros said.

"Mm, possibly," Takato said. A second rage vein popped up.

"You scared that you're gonna get hurt?" Nitros said.

"Yeah, sure," Takato replied.

"How can you run from a battle without feeling anything?" Nitros cried. "Don't you have any pride as a man?"

"Nope."

Nitros was getting infuriated, as shown by the third rage vein popping up on his head, which was followed shortly by sweat-dropping.

_Dammit,_ Nitros thought, as Takato and Austin got further and further. _They're getting away, they're getting away, they're getting away!_

"Or could it be because you're too **stupid **to think up a strategy to beat us?" he yelled, in last ditch desperation.

Takato stopped in his tracks.

"What did you just say…?"

Austin looked at him and started shaking for some reason. Nitros grinned.

"You heard me," he said. "You're not smart enough to beat us. You don't have what it takes upstairs to keep up with us. Your brain is too slow, or you can't use it properly. Hell, you can probably barely think enough to walk properly. The only part of the brain you use is the part that controls moving and talking – the rest is just grey mush, unused since the day you were born." As Nitros spoke, Austin started shaking more and more violently. "Now that I think about it, that's probably why you're not affected by my insults: because you don't understand them. Basically, you're an idiot. A bumbling imbecile who can only manage to get up in the morning, do the odd chore, and somehow get to school intact, proceeding to get all the lowest scores because you can't –"

As soon as the sentence "You're an idiot" was spoken, Takato turned around violently and pointed with two fingers at Nitros.

"SET!" he yelled, cutting Nitros off. Austin nodded and faced Nitros without hesitation.

"ANKERU!" Austin's eyes faded out and the purple energy blast shot from his open mouth and hit Nitros.

"GUUAAAAHH!"

The mamodo was thrown back a couple of metres and landed on his back.

"Now listen here, you pointy eared, evil Pinocchio wannabe piece of shit," he said, in a calm tone, betrayed by the fire burning in his eyes. "I don't give a damn about being called dependent, weak, cowardly, or whether you think I'm a 'manly man.' Those things don't mean shit to me. But no one – NO ONE – insults my intelligence." The dark magenta book in his hand started glowing. "Austin, I've changed my mind. We're gonna blast this bastard into oblivion!"

Austin grinned. "Yeah!"

CJ's jaw dropped, and he just stared in shock.

"Humans are so messed up," he muttered. "He doesn't care about his pride as a man or his strength, but he goes berserk when you insult his intellect…?"

In CJ's shock, he accidentally removed the vine covering Nat's mouth. Nat and Dante quickly noticed that the vines were looser now.

_Dante!_

_Got it! _

Two stars appeared facing the vines.

"FARGA!" The beams from the stars disintegrated the vines, freeing Nat and Dante. They immediately flipped up onto their feet, and Dante aimed at CJ.

"Dame Farga!" The 4x4 laser grid wall was formed and zoomed towards CJ and Shiro. CJ was still staring in shock at Takato and Austin, but Shiro noticed. His eyes widened, and he pushed CJ out of the way.

"Version Two!" Dante started flailing his arms around, and the stars responded in kind, each with two or more beams coming out. CJ and Shiro were trapped in the attack.

"Dammit!" CJ yelled, and put his arms in front of him.

"Hinakishield!" Shiro chanted, and the brown circular shield was formed in front of them, protecting them from most of the beams.

Seth was also shell shocked by Takato's behaviour for a moment, and then shook herself out of her daze. At the same time, Jiko motioned to Kyle, waved at him, and then did a finger across the throat motion, then signed the katakana for 'ei'. Kyle caught her drift and nodded.

"Nitros!" Seth cried. "I'm coming!"

"Accruk!"

"Ei Garon!"

Seth started to run towards Nitros, but was stopped by the chain that shot from Jiko's hand wrapping around her legs and pulling her back. Seth landed face first on the ground, and then looked back at Jiko in frustration. Jiko stared back with a look that said _you're not going anywhere._

* * *

Back at the Mizuno household, the sound of the front door opening and closing broke the silence.

"Austin! Takato! I'm home!"

Upon the distinct lack of an answer, the figure entering frowned.

"Austin? Takato?"

No answer. The figure mused on this as she shed her coat.

_Where on earth have those two gone off to now...?_

* * *

"Ganzu Firsen!"

Nitros split into three, and two of the Nitros fired missiles at Austin and Takato.

"Shidrashield!" Takato yelled. Austin's eyes faded out and a shield of shadow rose from the ground in front of them. The missiles slammed into the shield and were sent right back at the two Nitros and Castor, covered in a coat of darkness.

"Ah!" the Nitros clones cried out simultaneously and they both jumped in front of Castor with their arms crossed, each blocking a missile as both exploded, bringing up a veil of smoke.

Takato sneered. "Hmph. Is that all you've got?"

"Not yet," Austin said. "If I remember how the spell works…" He turned around to see Nitros in the air behind them. Nitros's eyes widened. A missile shot from his hand at them, but Austin grabbed the missile as it came at him and swung his arms so that it shot at Castor.

"Ah!" Castor yelped, and he jumped out of the way just before the missile hit.

"Castor!" Nitros cried. Takato turned and pointed at him.

"Set!" he yelled, and Austin turned to face Nitros. The shout got Nitros's attention, and he stared at them in surprise.

"You should be more worried about yourself," Takato said. "Ankeruga!" Austin's eyes faded out, and a fast concentrated beam of dark energy slightly bigger than Ankeru blasted out of his open mouth and hit Nitros head on, knocking him out of the air. He hit the ground hard and shakily propped himself up.

"Kuh…" he muttered. Nat and Dante caught his eye, and he put his arm up and aimed at them. "Castor!"

"Gigano Oru Firsen!" Nitros fired a large missile straight at them. Dante was too concentrated on his Version Two attack to notice. Nat did, however, and his eyes widened.

"Ankeruga!" The large concentrated dark beam shot out of Austin's mouth towards the missile. Nitros pointed down, and the missile ducked under it, so that it headed straight for Nat and Dante. Nat ducked, and the beam soared over his head and hit Seth's back, throwing her into Jiko's legs as she planted a kangaroo kick in Seth's solar plexus.

The missile was still heading for Nat and Dante.

"Crap," Nat said. _What do I do? Cast Fashield? But if I do that, that CJ guy will probably attack… _

Austin gritted his teeth, then turned to Takato and yelled, "Throw me over to them! We can protect them with our shield spell!"

"Huh? Why?"

"Because they're on _our_ side!" Austin exclaimed. Takato frowned in response. "Please!"

Takato sighed and shrugged. "Whatever." He grabbed Austin's mantle and flung him over the missile, and the mamodo landed in front of Nat and Dante.

"Shidrashield." The shield of shadow appeared in between them and the missile. The missile hit the shield and exploded, but the shield stayed firm.

"Tch," Takato exhaled. "Wasting my heart energy on another mamodo team…" He looked at CJ and Shiro stuck in Dame Farga: Version Two. _Although that attack is pretty useful… If we could keep the others from moving like that, we could finish 'em off with our strongest spell…_

Takato's eyes widened.

_That's it!_

He ran over to where Nat, Dante and Austin were standing.

"Hey, thanks for the help," Nat said. Takato waved his hand as if to say _don't mention it._

"So what's the plan?" Nat asked. When Takato gave him a look of surprise, he shrugged and said, "It looked like you thought of something."

"I think I have a way to finish this battle," Takato said. "Can you get that monkey over here?"

"Monkey?" Nat asked, puzzled. He frowned. "That's not very nice."

"Just get him over here!" Takato said urgently. Nat nodded and waved at Kyle to come over. Seth was still down, clutching her stomach, and Jean had vanished somewhere. Kyle nodded and beckoned to Jiko, and the two came over.

"What's up?" Kyle inquired.

"Takato's thought of something," Nat said. Takato nodded.

"Listen," he started. "Here's what we'll do…"

After explaining his plan, he asked if everyone got it, to which the other five replied in the positive. Seth got up slowly, rubbing her face and back.

"Oww…" she muttered. She turned to see Jean standing beside her. "Where'd that kid get off to?"

They heard a loud whistle from behind them, and turned to see Jiko and Kyle standing there. Seth growled.

"Accruk!"

"Let's continue, shall we?" Seth said as she shot forward.

Nitros had gotten up with help from Castor.

"We're back."

The two looked up to see Austin and Takato in front of them.

"You've come back again?" Nitros groaned. An angry expression came onto his face "Well, this time, I'll show you hell!"

_Faster, Dante! _Nat thought.

_Right! _Dante sped up the movement of Version Two, trying to hit Shiro's spellbook, and keeping the strongest team trapped and unable to move.

_Well, here we go, _Takato thought. _Time to begin Operation Dark Dragon!_


	18. Level 18: Operation Dark Dragon!

_Now it begins, _Takato thought. _My plan to end this annoying battle. Time to initiate Operation Dark Dragon!_

"Gigano Oru Firsen!" Nitros fired a large rocket from his hand which flew at Takato and Austin.

"Ankeru!" Takato yelled, and the blast of purple energy shot out of Austin's mouth at the missile. Nitros lifted his hand and the missile flew over it. The missile was still coming towards them.

"Shidrashield!" The shield of shadows rose in front of Austin and Takato. Nitros sharply raised his hand, and the missile flew up over it.

"Did you really think it would be that easy to block?" Nitros said. He sung his arm down and the missile came straight down at them.

"Set!" Takato yelled, pointing up at it. Austin faced the missile. "Ankeruga!" The large concentrated dark beam shot out of Austin's mouth and hit the missile head on, destroying it.

"Set!" Takato quickly pointed at Nitros, and Austin faced him. "Ankeruga!" The beam shot at Nitros and Castor, reaching them before they could react, and blasted them backwards. They landed on their backs and quickly got up as Austin regained consciousness, and Takato prepared to cast another spell.

"Am Accruk!" Seth's arms glowed, and she threw out a flurry of punches at Jiko, who protected herself with her arms. Jiko grabbed Seth's arm on the last punch and threw her forward over her shoulder. Seth landed on her feet and came at Jiko, who had drawn her left palm to her side.

"Garon!" Jiko thrust her arm out as the large spiked flail shot out of her palm and smashed into Seth, knocking her off her feet and further backwards. Seth hit the ground and rolled back up onto her feet.

As Dante concentrated on maintaining Version Two, Nat was watching both duels out of the corner of his eyes.

_Looks like it's working so far… _he thought, remembering what Takato's plan was.

* * *

"_Here's what we'll do," Takato started. "You guys are familiar with the concept of heart energy, right?"_

_Nat and Kyle nodded._

"_That's the power inside us that we use to cast spells, right?" Nat said. "The 'strength from within,' if you will."_

_Takato nodded. "Pretty much."_

"_What about it?" Kyle asked._

"_Well, Austin and I have a powerful spell that can take out all three of these guys in one shot. However, it takes up almost all of my heart energy to use, so I can only use it once. In order to beat all of them with that spell, we have to keep them all in one place in enough time for me to aim and cast the spell. We can do that using that spell you're using to immobilise that thorn idiot."_

"_Not very light on the insults, are we?" Kyle noticed._

"_Just shut up and listen," Takato snapped. "What we're going to do is lead both of the other mamodo and their book owners into that place without them noticing until it's too late." _

"_And the best way to do that is to use spells," Nat said. "In other words, continue the battle, but pushing them toward our spell." _

"_Right," Takato muttered, slightly miffed. "Austin and I will handle that filthy bastard piece of fairy tale imitation shit –" He pointed at Nitros lying face down on the floor. "– and the monkey and his mamodo will take care of the other one."_

_Kyle frowned. "I can hear you, you know." _

"_Good," Takato said. "Anamura, you and your mamodo have to maintain this spell. If possible, try to get one of the beams to hit the thorn idiot's book."_

"_Roger," Dante said, still maintaining Version Two. Nat nodded. _

"_We'll call this plan 'Operation Dark Dragon' – you'll see why if we pull it off."_

* * *

_All we have to do is maintain the spell, _Nat thought. _Shouldn't be too hard. And it looks like they're getting tired out, too. _He looked at CJ and Shiro, who were straining to keep up their shield spell. The glow from Shiro's book was getting weaker. _If that shield breaks, that'll be one less enemy to worry about. Hopefully the book owner won't get hurt too badly …_

"Ganzu Garon!"

"Am Golruk!"

Seth's arms hardened and took on a rough diamond like texture. Seth crossed her arms in front of her in defense as Jiko fired off a barrage of spiked metal spheres at her, pushing her back a bit with each hit.

On Austin and Takato's side of the battle, Nitros and Castor were getting their butts handed to them. Badly.

"Firsen!" A missile shot out of Nitros's hand at Austin, who caught the missile in his arms and redirected it back at Nitros.

"Crap!" Nitros yelled. "Castor!"

"Stop yelling, I'm doing it already!" Castor retorted. "Firrashield!" A large missile appeared and split vertically in half, and the smaller missile flew in. The large missile snapped shut and flew at Austin, who was rushing at them.

"Austin, slide under it!" Takato yelled. Austin slid under the large missile and looked up at it.

"Ankeruga!" The large dark beam shot from Austin's open mouth and smashed right through the middle of the missile, tearing it in two. Austin's eyes faded back in and he sprang forward, away from the two pieces of the missile, just before they exploded on the ground.

"Wha –" Nitros yelped, as Austin appeared in front of him.

"Ankeru!" The blast of purple energy engulfed Nitros and sent him flying back into Castor headfirst. The man was knocked off his feet for the fourth time in a row, and the duo slid back further.

"Kuh…" Nitros started to slowly push himself up. He propped himself up on his elbow and looked up to see Austin standing in front of them.

"Ankeru!" The blast of purple energy shot from Austin's mouth again, hitting Nitros and blowing up the ground below them. They were thrown back even further, and skidded on their backs a good way before stopping again.

"That bastard…" Nitros grunted, as he tried to rise again. "Won't even give us a chance to stand up…"

_There's something I don't understand, though…_ he thought. _All this time, he could easily… have obliterated us at point blank range… and burned my book with that beam spell… so why does he keep using this low-level one…?_

A yellow beam suddenly zoomed over the ground in front of him, leaving a straight line like a gash in the ground. Nitros flinched, and then looked up to see the stars rotating just above him.

_This spell…? _He thought.

"What?" He turned to see CJ staring at him, straining to maintain his shield. Castor was on one knee beside him. "They managed to get you guys trapped too?"

Nitros's eyes widened in realisation. _That's why…!_

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Seth being pushed back by Jiko's attacks. He took a deep breath and yelled out at the top of his voice.

"SETH!" Seth and Jiko both jumped. "LISTEN TO ME! YOU CAN'T LET THAT GIRL PUSH YOU BACK ANYMORE! WHATEVER YOU DO, YOU CAN'T FALL INTO THIS TRAP! WE CAN'T LET THEM COMPLETE THEIR PLAN! IF WE DO, IT'LL BE THE END –"

"ANKERU!" Nitros was blasted by purple energy and was knocked out.

Takato looked in his direction coldly. "Shut up for a moment, kid."

Seth stared, wide eyed, at her two companions, trapped by Version Two and unable to move.

_So that's what they want to do, _she thought. A grin spread on her face.

"Heh. Like I'd let you do something like that. JEAN!"

Jean nodded, and the book in his hands started glowing brightly.

"Go Accruk!"

Seth started jogging in place, her legs speeding up into a blur, and then disappeared. Both Nat's and Takato's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wha…" Jiko stammered.

"What the heck just happened?" Kyle wondered aloud.

Jiko looked around herself warily. Suddenly, she was hit hard in the face by an invisible force. She stumbled back and almost fell over.

"What the –" Kyle went in surprise.

Jiko was hit three more times in quick succession. She regained her balance after a few moments and tried to see where these attacks were coming from. Kyle was getting worried for her now.

"Jiko!" he called, and started to come toward her. She held up a hand, telling him to stop.

"I'm fine…" she murmured.

"Really?" Seth's voice called. "Well, we'll just have to do something about that."

Suddenly, Jiko was hit from the left, then from the right. As Kyle watched, Jiko was hit more and more with each passing moment, the blows landing faster and faster, until she was being pinballed in all directions. With a final hard blow from the left, Jiko was sent flying into a tree, which she slammed into back first before falling onto the floor. As she tried to prop herself up, Seth appeared right on top of her and planted a foot on her head, keeping her down. Seth looked down at the bruised and battered Jiko with a grin.

"Shit…!" Kyle swore. _What the hell did that spell do? _

Nat and Takato were also observing the fight.

_How did she do that? _Nat wondered. _Did the spell make her invisible? No, that doesn't sound right. Could it be…?_

_What kind of spell is this?_ Takato thought._ Is she teleporting? Or…_

They both noticed skid marks at Seth's feet. At that moment, the same thought occurred to the two.

_She's moving at near-lightspeed!_

Seth looked up and pointed at Dante.

"You're next!" she said, before disappearing again. Kyle quickly ran over to Jiko.

_No! _Takato thought. _If the star kid's concentration is disrupted, the whole plan fails! _He gritted his teeth._ But we can't move fast enough to stop her!_

Giggles could be heard everywhere as Seth zoomed around, unseen by the human eye, deciding the best angle from which to attack Dante. His eyes squeezed shut as she got closer and closer. Then she went in for the kill.

"AAAHH!" Dante yelled, and swung a fist up as part of his frantic arm movements. He caught Seth squarely on the chin, sending her flying back. She flipped and landed on her feet, then stared at him in shock, as was everyone else. Dante simply continued maintaining Version Two as if nothing had happened.

_Whoa! _Austin thought. _I don't really understand what just happened, but… That was awesome! He just knocked her out of thin air!_

_How did he do that? _Seth thought, dumbstruck. _He couldn't even see me. How could he have…? _Her eyes widened in realisation after a second. _Oh, wait. He's power sensitive. He doesn't need to _see _me to know where I am. _She got up. _Well, I may not be able to hit him, but I _can_ keep moving so they can't catch me, at least until he runs out of energy or slips up. As long as I stay free, I can figure out a way to save my allies!_

She disappeared into thin air.

_Crap, she's off again, _Takato thought. _We have to stop her somehow… _He thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers.

_That's it! _

He leaned down and whispered into Austin's ear. Austin nodded and went over to Nat and whispered what Takato had told him, then went to Kyle and whispered to him as well. Austin and Takato then went to the middle of the field. Nat put ear mufflers on him and Dante, and Kyle and Jiko blocked their ears as Takato's spellbook started glowing.

"The third spell," Takato chanted, "Doredor!"

Austin's eyes faded out, and he let out a high-pitched shriek which manifested itself as purple rings. Takato grabbed Austin under the arms and started spinning round and round, so that the shriek travelled outward in a spiral, reaching over the whole field. Suddenly there was a loud thud. Takato stopped the spell and turned towards a large oak tree, which Seth was pressed flat against. She slid off the tree slowly as Austin regained consciousness.

"Heh, looks like it worked," Takato said.

Nat's and Kyle's eyes widened in surprise.

"Whoa!" Kyle said. "Did you cancel the effect of the spell?"

Takato shook his head, smirking. "Not quite…"

Seth got up slowly and shook her head, blinking. She squeezed her eyes shut and disappeared again, only to hit a large rock a moment later. She rubbed her eyes and blinked again.

"Nnngh! I… I can't see!" she yelled.

Nat raised an eyebrow.

_Could it be that that spell Takato used has blinded her somehow…? _he thought. A grin spread on Takato's face and he and Austin walked over to Seth.

"And now we can do like so," he said, as his book started shining. Seth stopped and gulped.

_Crap._

"ANKERU!" The blast of purple energy sent Seth flying. She landed right behind CJ, smack dab in the middle of the spell. CJ turned to look at her.

"Oh, you're here," he said simply. "Come on, help me pull Nitros behind the shield." He was currently trying to pull Nitros to the safety of the shield with one arm while maintaining the spell with the other. Seth blinked as the blindness from the spell wore off, and quickly helped CJ pull Nitros behind the shield. Jean was soon literally kicked in by Kyle.

"Heh." Takato grinned evilly. "Set!" He pointed at the three pairs trapped in Version Two, and Austin faced them. The book started shining very brightly.

"_The fourth spell…_" Takato chanted. "_VAO ANKERUGA!_"

Austin's eyes faded out, and out of his gaping mouth shot a huge, purple, serpentine European dragon surrounded by a black aura. It flew towards the three enemy pairs. Nat, Dante, Kyle and Jiko stared at the dragon in awe.

"_VAAOOOOOOOO!" _it screamed. CJ, Seth and Nitros all stared at it, speechless. After a while tears started streaming down Seth's face.

"Guys… I'm so sorry. I couldn't do anything to stop them, and now we're all going to be defeated, and it's all my fault…"

Nitros and CJ looked at her a moment. A small smile spread on CJ's face.

"Heh. What the hell are you talking about?"

Seth looked up at him in surprise.

"You did what you could. We all did. We just bit off more than we could chew this time." He raised his hands up and brought up his shield to meet the dragon. "Now help me hold this thing back!"

Nitros and Seth got up and helped CJ hold up the shield. Nat and Dante stopped the spell, and the dragon slammed into the shield, almost pushing them into the ground, and they started bending under the force.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

A crack appeared in the middle of the shield. CJ's eyes widened in shock.

_Shit._

The crack grew and spread as the shield started breaking under the pressure. As cracks spread across the shield, Nitros sighed.

"It looks like we're going back after all," he said. "I guess I should have realised that the difference in our strengths was too great. But it's been fun." He smiled at Seth and CJ. They both smiled back.

"Yeah…" CJ said.

The shield shattered above them, and the dragon opened its mouth and engulfed the three. It changed into an explosion of dark energy, bringing up a veil of smoke. After a moment, the smoke cleared to show a large crater had been carved into the ground, and in the crater burned the small remains of two spellbooks. There was no sign of the third spellbook, or of Shiro, Jean and Castor.

"Jiko!" Dante said worriedly. He and Nat ran over to Kyle and Jiko, and he helped her up.

"Are you okay?" he asked, checking her over.

Jiko nodded. "I think so..."

Takato grinned. "Hmph. Serves you… right…" He fell to the ground. Nat, Dante, Kyle and Jiko went over to him.

"Are you okay?" Nat asked.

"I'm fine," Takato replied, panting. "I told you… the spell… takes a lot out of me." He shakily sat up. Austin's eyes faded back in, and he stumbled backwards.

"Did we win?" he asked. Dante nodded.

"Yup!" he replied. "Your last spell defeated them! It was awesome!"

"Yeah, you're really strong!" Jiko said in admiration.

"It wasn't that impressive…" Austin said, scratching the back of his head. Nat offered Takato his hand, and helped him to get up.

"Looks like your plan worked perfectly!" he said.

"Of course," Takato said smugly. Austin elbowed him in the stomach, and he coughed and added, "Although I guess I couldn't have done it without you guys…"

Kyle grinned. "Heh, we make a pretty good team, don't we?"

A small smile appeared on Takato's face. "Yeah… I guess we do."

* * *

The next morning, Austin and Takato's mother were sitting at the table eating breakfast. Takato walked past the table on his way out of the house.

"See you later, Mother," he said simply.

"Hey, wait a second! You haven't even had breakfast!" his mother called. It was too late, though – Takato had already left. She sighed and sat back. She had long brown hair that went past her shoulders and kind brown eyes, and was wearing a simple blue dress with a white apron.

"That boy…" she muttered. "Austin, do you mind going to his school to check up on him?"

"Sorry, ma'am, but Takato's forbidden me from following him to school," Austin said. He finished his cereal and jumped off his chair onto the floor. "And besides…"

At school, during break, Nat and Kyle were chatting and walking towards Nat's spot. They stopped and stared in surprise when they saw Takato sitting there, reading a book.

"EH?" Kyle cried. "Mizuno?"

"Takato…?" Nat said. "What are you doing over here?"

Takato looked up from his book. "This place is quieter than the rest of the courtyard. Do you have a problem with it?"

After a moment a smile spread on Nat's face.

"No, of course not," he said, and he and Kyle sat beside him. "I was just wondering, that's all."

…_I get the feeling that he'll be all right._

* * *

**Mamodo team debut: Austin Mel and Takato Mizuno**

**Submitted by: AceStarKnight**

* * *

OMAKE!

"Let's go home, Austin!" Takato said.

"Yes, sir!" Austin said. They walked up to the first house along the road the five had been searching along, and Takato went inside. Austin stared at the building for a moment.

"Oh," he said. The other four's jaws dropped.

"THE HECK?" they yelled.


	19. Level 19: Deadly Scream

Alarms blared loud and long in the shopping district. The back wall of the city bank exploded out, creating a gaping hole, which two figures emerged from. The taller of the two grinned.

"Heh heh," he said. "Another successful job, eh?" He looked down at the smaller figure beside him.

"Gu-pi," was the response.

"Let's go," the taller figure said. The two started walking away from the bank. The taller figure brought out a folded piece of paper which he had ripped from the bulletin board from his pocket and opened it up. On it was a picture of two boys, one adolescent and one child. The child had spiky, unruly yellow hair and golden eyes, as well as lines on his face, two for each side, starting at the bottom of each eye and running down his cheeks. The teen had spiky brown hair and blue eyes, and was holding a yellow book with the mamodo spellbook symbol on it.

"So these guys are the same as us, huh…"

* * *

…_the city bank has been robbed by an unknown person or group. At the crime scene police officers found people lying on the floor, with no visible wounds anywhere, except for some bleeding from the ears, similar to the female victim of a murder a few days ago, suggesting that this crime was committed by the same person. A city-wide lockdown has been put in place, prohibiting movement in and out of the city, to try and locate the perpetrator…_

It was three days after the battle with Nitros, CJ and Seth, the start of the weekend. Nat was sitting in the living room eating breakfast. The television was on and set to the news channel, the only channel available in the morning on a weekend. Dante came in from the door leading to the bedroom, yawning and tiredly rubbing his eyes. He was wearing white pyjamas.

"Good morning…" he greeted. Nat looked back at him.

"Oh, you're up," he said. "You hungry? I'd have made you breakfast earlier, but we don't have a microwave or anything, and I didn't want the food to get cold…"

Dante nodded slowly. "Mmm."

Nat got up and took his plate to the kitchen, put it in the sink, and started making Dante's breakfast, while Dante sat in the living room looking at the table, lost in thought. After a while Dante spoke.

"Hey, Nat…"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think we could do some training today?"

In the kitchen, Nat raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Well, it's just that it seems like I'm not very useful lately… I mean, Jiko's already got four spells, and Austin has five. And that fourth spell, Vao Ankeruga…" Dante remembered the feeling of power he had gotten from the dragon. "It's more powerful than any spell we've ever seen, definitely more powerful than any of my magic. My friends are all already so strong… I don't want to become baggage. I want to get stronger, more reliable. I want to be able to protect everyone."

Nat nodded. "Yeah, I've been thinking about that too…"

_Lately, it feels like we've been getting weaker and weaker, _he thought. _From what Kyle's said, Jiko's fourth spell is really powerful… and Vao Ankeruga is on another level. We have to get stronger so Dante can stay in the running to be King! And besides… _Determination burned in his eyes. _I want to be able to protect my friends too!_

"I've been devising new fighting tactics and techniques we could use, so…" Nat brought out Dante's breakfast and laid it out on the table. "Let's go and train after you've eaten."

Dante grinned and nodded. "Yup!" He clapped his hands together. "Thank you for the meal!"

* * *

"Where are we going?" Dante asked, as he and Nat walked down a street. Nat was wearing a black T-shirt with a white cross in the center under an open brown shirt, blue shorts and brown sandals. Dante was wearing his normal clothing.

"Well, the city's on lockdown right now, so we can't go out into the field…" Nat said.

"Eh?" Dante said incredulously. "The city's on lockdown? Why?"

"Someone's committed a few crimes, and the authorities want to try to trap them here and catch them before they do any more damage."

Dante blanched. "Are you sure we should be going out with a dangerous criminal on the loose?"

"We'll be fine! Besides, we have the spellbook, remember? We can defend ourselves if worse comes to worst."

The two were now walking in the deserted part of the city, surrounded by old, derelict buildings. Nat stopped beside the alleyway where the two had had their first battle.

"Heh." A smile crossed Nat's face, and he walked into it, right up to the dead end. Dante followed him.

"Nat, what are you doing?" Dante asked, confused. Nat turned to look at him.

"Remember this place?" Nat said. "This was where we first met."

Dante's eyes widened in recognition. "Oh, I remember now!" He pointed at all the holes in the wall. "These are from when that mamodo used Ganzu Biraitsu. And this spot right here…" He walked exactly five steps away from the wall and stood. "This is where I landed when I blocked that first beam."

"Yup," Nat said. He touched the dead end wall with one hand. _This was the place where my life almost ended… The place where it all started for us. It was barely two months ago, but it seems like forever since the events of that day occurred…_

Nat suddenly thought of something.

"I just remembered a place around here that'd be perfect for training!" he said. "Come on, Dante!" He walked out into the street, and Dante followed.

* * *

"Ready?" Nat called. Dante nodded. "Okay, here we go!" The yellow book started glowing brightly. "Farga!"

Four stars appeared circling Dante vertically and shot out beams in front of him. However, the beams kept streaming out of the stars instead of separating from them.

Nat grinned. "Good!" _Now focus the beams into a single point in front of you!_

Dante nodded and carefully moved the stars until the beams converged into a point in front of him, creating a large spearhead-like structure.

_Perfect! Now let's test it out! _Nat pointed forward. "CHARGE!"

Dante sprang forward, keeping the spearhead intact, and ploughed right through a metre-thick wall of reinforced platinum with no resistance. Nat grinned so wide he might have split his face in two.

Dante landed on the other side of the wall and looked back at his handiwork. "Whoa…"

"Yes!" Nat yelled triumphantly, punching the air. "It worked!"

Nat and Dante were training in a large, old abandoned warehouse, which was plain and bare except for crates and boxes of old building materials which had been forgotten. There was only one huge room inside. The walls were incredibly thick and tough, made of strong metals and alloys; tough enough, in fact, that separately the beams from Farga were barely able to put a dent in them. One of these walls ran right through the center of the room.

_It's just like I thought, _Nat thought. _Bringing the beams into a single point makes an attack that's way more powerful._

"Amazing!" Dante exclaimed, staring at the giant hole he had pierced through the wall, which he had barely been able to damage just before. "What do you call this attack, Nat?"

"I didn't think that far, to be honest…" Nat said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I wasn't sure it would work… What do you think we should call it?"

"Hmm…" Dante put a hand on his chin and thought for a moment, and then snapped his fingers. "Lance Point."

"Lance Point?"

"You know, cause it's a huge point that's used like a lance."

_Well, it does sort of look a lot like a giant lance… _Nat thought. He smiled and nodded. "Lance Point it is! Now let's try to do it again."

"Roger!" Dante faced a blank, undamaged section of the wall as Nat prepared to cast the spell again.

Unbeknownst to the two, they were being watched through a hole in the roof by two figures. One of them was a girl about seven years old, with black hair just past the shoulders and grey eyes, as well as a large white X between her eyes that stretched to run down her cheeks. She was wearing a simple short black dress and little white boxing mitts. The other was a man about 20 years old, with black hair and dark brown eyes, and was wearing a high-quality leather jacket over a plain white shirt, black jeans and loafers. He was holding a black spellbook. They both had grins on their faces. The man brought out the piece of paper from the bank with Nat and Dante's picture on it.

"That's them, all right," he said, lowering the paper. "Good job."

The girl giggled. "The mamodo's sort of cute!"

"Hey, focus."

"Gupi-pi." The girl nodded. "I know, I know." She looked down at Nat. The black book started glowing.

"Himeiru."

The girl opened her mouth and screamed.

"**PIGEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!**"

Dante's eyes widened. _Mamo– _

An alarm rang in Nat's head, but before he could make sense of it the sound wave hit him in the back, and he felt intense pain go through his body, as if someone had punctured his heart. He yelled in pain and fell to one knee. Dante's eyes widened.

_What was that? _Nat thought. _Was that a spell? I didn't hear anything…_

"Nat!" Dante yelled worriedly, and ran towards him. "Nat, are you okay?"

Nat put up a hand, signalling Dante to stop. "Get back. I think I was just hit by something…"

"Himeiru."

Another sound wave ripped through Nat, and he fell back onto one knee.

"Himeiru. Himeiru. Himeiru."

Nat was hit three more times, each more intense than the last. He collapsed, and Dante came to his side.

"Nat?" Dante started shaking him. "Nat, wake up! Come on, wake up! Answer me!"

"Hm hm hm," the man hummed, smiling. The two looked at Nat's still form. "Let's get down the-"

Nat suddenly started pushing himself up. The man raised an eyebrow.

"He's still conscious?" he muttered.

Shakily, Nat got on one knee and coughed up a fair bit of blood, which splattered onto the floor beneath him. His head snapped up towards the roof, and he pointed at the spot behind the hole in the ceiling.

"Dante!" he yelled.

"Right!" Dante aimed up at the roof.

"FARGA!" The beams from the stars slammed into the roof, narrowly missing the black spellbook in the man's hand, and the part of the roof the two were standing on crumbled. They fell through and landed on a stack of large metal crates that was conveniently placed right below them.

"It _was _a mamodo!" Dante said. The two looked down at Nat and Dante.

"Hm," the man said. He folded up the piece of paper and tossed it down at Nat, who caught it. "That's you two, right?"

Nat unfolded the paper and saw the picture of him and Dante. His eyes widened a bit in surprise. The man grinned.

"Heh, just as I thought," he said. "You're like me, aren't you?"

Nat raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean ?"

"Don't play dumb with me," the man said. "I know you are. You're using him to fulfil your desires…" He pointed at Dante. "…just like I'm using her." He put a hand on the girl's head.

_Using…? _Nat thought.

"But see, I've got big plans, right?" the man continued. "And I can't do it with just one mamodo. So I'm here to take yours." The black spellbook in his hand started glowing, and he pointed at Nat and Dante.

"Ragnärok…" he said. The girl nodded and looked down at them.

"Himei-"

"Farga!" Four beams shot at the two before the man could finish the spell. He and Ragnärok bent their bodies out of the way of the beams, and the man raised his spellbook above his head to protect it. He raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Hoh?" he said. "Looks like you have a pretty fast spell there. We can't have that hitting the book, now, can we?" The black spellbook glowed brightly again. "Himeiru!"

"**PIGEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" **

Nat and Dante fell to their knees and clutched their ears as Ragnärok's scream ripped into them. Her book owner grinned as he watched them suffer.

_Wh-what kind of attack is this…? _Nat thought. _It feels like my head's going to explode… I can't even hear myself think…_ He slowly looked over to Dante, who had his eyes squeezed shut, and his hands clamped firmly on his ears. He was gritting his teeth in pain.

"D… Dante…" Nat muttered, trying to move towards the mamodo.

"Hm?" Ragnärok's partner raised an eyebrow. "They're still conscious? Any normal person would have lost consciousness from the pain by now… Hurry up and faint already." The black book in his hand glowed.

"Gigano Himeiru!"

Ragnärok's scream grew several times louder and more intense, to the point that it manifested as a huge circular shockwave that shot towards Nat and Dante. As it hit them, both Nat's and Dante's eyes widened, and their pupils shrank.

"Guh…"

Their hands fell from their heads, and the two slumped over and collapsed face first onto the floor. Ragnärok's partner grinned.

"Hmph," he said. "Finally." He and Ragnärok jumped off the crate onto the floor and began walking towards Nat and Dante, who were just barely conscious.

_That was… even worse… _Nat thought. _It feels like my insides were ripped apart… I can feel my consciousness… slipping… No! I have to stay awake! If I don't, they'll take Dante away… I can't let that happen! _The yellow book in his hand started glowing faintly.

"Oh?" Ragnärok's partner raised an eyebrow. "You're still awake? That's impressive. Well, in that case, before I take your mamodo, I'll tell you how I met mine.

"I was walking back from work, through an alley, when I heard sounds coming from a big old dumpster a little way in front of me. So I walk up to it and look inside, and her head pops right out at me. Nearly gave me a heart attack, too. After cringing back and realising I was still okay, I looked up and saw her staring at me. She looked lost so I decided to let her stay with me, at least until I'd found her relatives or something.

"A month after she'd started staying with me, though, things started going wrong… I got fired from my job, my girlfriend dumped me… It was a pretty depressing day." He closed his eyes as the memory of the worst day of his life came back to him. "Naturally, I was a bit upset when I got home, so when Ragnärok started bugging me, well, I absolutely lost it. I started yelling at her, blaming her for everything, and somehow I came to the conclusion that she was some sort of curse and kicked her out of the house.

"I felt guilty after that, though, so I went out and started looking for her. Somehow, I caught the attention of a gang of thugs. I tried to get away from 'em, but they managed to corner me in an alley. Guess which one?" An amused grin crossed his face. "Anyway, one of them pulled out a knife, and I was waiting for it to all be over. Suddenly she jumps out of the dumpster, where she'd been hiding the whole time, nabbed one of them in the head with a flying kick, and kneed the one with the knife right in the groin. Even in the situation I was, I had to feel sorry for him. She looked back at me and handed me the black book she was always carrying around, and told me to read it. Rather weird order, when I think about it, but at the time I just opened the book and started flipping through it.

"I couldn't read anything except the three coloured lines on the first page. The first spell, Himeiru. I read it out loud, and she let out that horrible screech… Next thing I know, all the thugs are knocked out cold on the ground. Ironically, the 'curse' I'd kicked out a few hours before was the same person that saved me.

"Looking back, I don't understand how I could ever have thought that. Ragnärok's the best thing that's ever happened to me! This black book…" He raised his spellbook up. "It's the answer to all my problems! Because of Ragnärok's power, I can get anything I want! Money, jewels, it's all for the taking! And I can destroy anyone that gets in my way! I got my revenge on the company that took my job. Planting a bomb's actually really easy once you can make one on the spot. And the bitch who shattered my heart…" He and Ragnärok grinned demonically. "I made sure she'd never do that to anyone ever again."

Nat's and Dante's eyes widened.

_- similar to the female victim of a murder a few days ago…_

"You… were the one who did that…?" Dante whispered.

The man nodded.

"So you were the one who robbed the city bank…?" Nat said.

"Right again," the man grinned. "And countless other places before that, and definitely many more. And it's all thanks to Ragnärok." He patted her head again. "But now I'm thinking bigger, and even Ragnärok won't be enough. So I need one more mamodo. Ragnärok, get the book from the human."

Ragnärok nodded and started making her way to Nat's side. Her partner bent down onto one knee and put a hand on Dante's head. "You're coming with us now."

_No… no…! _Nat thought, struggling to get up. Then Dante quietly spoke.

"Go to hell."

"Huh?" the man said in surprise, as Dante flipped his body upwards. Dante snapped his legs up and landed a powerful kick on the man's side, sending him flying back a few metres. He landed on his side and skidded back.

"Ah! Tim!" Ragnärok cried, and ran to her book owner's side. Tim looked up in Nat and Dante's direction to see Dante on one knee, breathing heavily.

"There aren't a lot of things I really hate…" Dante said. "I hate fighting for no reason… I hate it when my friends are hurt… and I especially hate people who only care about themselves, and will hurt anyone who gets in their way…" He looked up, and Tim and Ragnärok were taken back by the look in his eyes. "But what I hate even more than that is when people use their power for their own selfish wants! Especially if that power can cause others pain!" He stood up. Nat grinned and started getting up. After a moment, Tim looked at them scornfully.

"Heh, you say that, but you can barely stand!" he said. "Himeiru!"

Ragnärok let out a piercing shriek which flew at Nat and Dante. Dante opened his mouth and yelled right back.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Dante's battle cry nullified the sound attack, protecting him and Nat from the spell's effects. Tim, Ragnärok and Nat stared at him in surprise.

_Did he just block my attack just by yelling...?_ Ragnärok thought.

"NAT!" Dante yelled.

"Yeah," Nat said. "There's no way we can lose to a person like this guy!" The spellbook in Nat's hands started glowing brightly.

"FARGA!"

Four beams hit Tim and Ragnärok hard, sending them flying backwards. Dante was in front of them before they touched the ground.

"DAME FARGA!" The 4x4 laser grid wall assembled and zoomed towards them.

"Hi-Himeio Renkin!" Tim yelled frantically. Ragnärok let out a scream, and a black shield appeared in front of her and Tim, barely blocking the attack.

"Nat!" Dante yelled, as stars appeared in a circle round him. _The first spell!_

"Got it!" Nat replied. "FARGA!"

The stars streamed from the beams and converged into a point in front of Dante, creating Lance Point, and he smashed point-first into the shield, destroying it and blowing Tim and Ragnärok backwards into the wall. The attack brought up a cloud of smoke. Dante landed on his feet, and he and Nat watched carefully.

The smoke cleared to reveal a large pile of rubble, where some crates had fallen and broken. Dante's eyes widened and he started moving forward.

_Wait_.

Dante stopped.

Suddenly, a hand burst out of the rubble, and Dante took a step back in surprise. Nat and Dante watched as Tim and Ragnärok slowly emerged. The two had borderline psychotic looks of fury on their faces.

"Heh heh," Tim said. "It looks like we underestimated you a bit. But you really shouldn't have done that. Now I'm pissed off." The black book in his hands started shining brightly. "How about it, Ragnärok? Let's show them our true power."


	20. Level 20: Screaming Resonance

The book in Tim's hand shone brightly, illuminating the looks of crazy rage on his and Ragnärok's faces.

"Ready, Ragnärok?" Tim said. "Let's show our full power."

"Aye!" Ragnärok replied.

"Himei Kyoumei."

Ragnärok started screaming loud and long. Nat and Dante winced at the loud sound. As they watched, the light from Tim's book grew brighter and brighter, and the grin on his face grew wider and wider. After a while, he opened his mouth and let out an insane cackle.

_What on earth… _Nat thought.

After a few minutes of this, Ragnärok stopped screaming. The book in Tim's hand was shining much more brightly than before. Nat raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Heh," Tim said. "HIMEIRU!"

Ragnärok opened her mouth, and a white beam shot out, headed towards Nat and Dante. The beam travelled with a piercing shriek like Ragnärok's as it flew at them.

"Holy crap!" Dante exclaimed, eyes widened. "It's a scream beam!"

"This is no time for puns!" Nat yelled. "Fashield!" An extra star appeared, and the yellow pyramid shield formed around Nat and Dante. The 'scream beam' slammed into the shield, cracking it, but the shield held. Nat stared at the crack in shock.

_Their first spell has enough power to crack Fashield… _

"And you're just standing there because…?"

"Pipipigu…"

Nat and Dante quickly looked back up at Tim and Ragnärok, who were walking towards them.

"HIMEIO RENKIN!"

Ragnärok lifted her head and screamed skyward. As Nat and Dante watched, something began to take shape above her. She reached up and seized the handle, and pulled down a large black hammer. Nat's eyes widened.

"Heeheeheehee~!" Ragnärok shot forward and raised the hammer above her head. With a great swing, she brought it down onto the shield, shattering it. Dante stopped the hammer with his arms, but Ragnärok simply raised it and swung it sideways. It smashed Dante back into Nat, sending them both back a few metres. Dante landed on his feet, while Nat's didn't leave the ground. They looked up to see Ragnärok coming at them, and Dante quickly took aim.

"Farga!" The four beams slammed into Ragnärok head-on, pushing her back, and the hammer was knocked out of her hands. It flew into the wall beside them and dissolved into thin air. Ragnärok shook her head and shot forward again. Dante rushed toward her, and the two mamodo met in the middle and exchanged a flurry of hits.

"Stupid-stupid-stupid-stupid-stupid!" Ragnärok shrieked, punctuating each word with a punch or kick, most of which Dante was able to dodge. "Why couldn't you just have stayed down and let Tim take you with us? Sure, he may not have been able to read your book, but at least you'd have been able to stay with us, and I'd make sure your book would be the last to burn! But nooooo! You just had to get back up and piss him off!" She threw a vicious right hook which smashed into Dante's face, causing him to stumble back.

"YOU'VE-" She smashed her fist into his stomach, forcing him to cough up blood.

"RUINED-" A bone-breaking left hook into his face.

"EVERYTHING!" And another hard right hook.

"HIMEIRU!" Tim yelled, and the shrieking beam shot out of Ragnärok's mouth and hit Dante squarely in the chest, blasting him backwards towards Nat. Nat caught him before he hit the ground.

"Oww…" Dante muttered.

"I'm gonna enjoy pounding you into the ground, loser," Ragnärok said, licking Dante's blood off her knuckle.

_She's strong…_ Dante thought. Nat nodded in agreement, the jolted up as an alarm rang in his head.

"GIGANO HIMEIRU!" Nat grabbed Dante under the armpits with one arm and leapt to the right, just before Ragnärok fired a much larger shrieking beam from her mouth, which missed them by exactly a centimetre. It tore a giant hole in the wall behind them.

"Holy –" Nat said, staring at the gaping hole.

"Heh." Ragnärok smirked condescendingly.

"Next one won't miss," Tim muttered. "GIGANO HIMEIRU!" Ragnärok fired another huge beam at them.

"Dante!" Nat yelled, pointing at the beam. _Use Lance Point to pierce through and get close to her!_

"Got it!" Dante replied.

"Farga!" Four stars appeared around Dante, streaming out beams which met at a point in front of him, forming Lance Point, and he charged point first right into the huge beam. The point ploughed right through the spell, and Dante quickly got in front of Ragnärok.

"YAAAAHH!" He threw a powerful uppercut into Ragnärok's chin, sending her flying back. She landed in front of Tim, and Dante quickly aimed at them.

"Dame Farga!" The 4x4 laser grid wall was formed and zoomed towards them. Tim raised an eyebrow.

"What the hell kind of spell is this?" he wondered aloud, as the wall zoomed closer. "HIMEIRU!"

Ragnärok shot the shrieking beam at one of the stars, knocking it off balance, and moved her head so that the beam started knocking others. Nat grinned.

_That's not gonna help you_. "Version Two!"

Dante started flailing his arms around, and the stars responded in kind, each with two or more beams shooting out. Tim and Ragnärok were trapped. They looked up at the stars rotating every which way.

"Is this it?" Tim said, sounding almost bored. "HIBIKI HIMEIRU!"

A short burst of shrieking white energy, like a long bullet, shot from Ragnärok's mouth. It grazed the point of one of the stars and flew towards the ceiling. Nat and Dante both raised an eyebrow.

"What…?" Nat muttered. He then noticed that Tim had a grin on his face.

"Wait for it…"

The short burst ricocheted of the ceiling and back towards the floor at an angle, then was reflected into the wall, then into the ceiling, then the other wall. Soon it was pinballing all around Tim and Ragnärok, hitting the stars from all sides, until Version Two was dispersed. Nat's and Dante's eyes widened.

_Did they just… cancel Version Two?_

"Heh," Tim said, "too easy." He pointed forward at Nat and Dante, and Ragnärok faced them. "HIBIKI HIMEIRU!"

Ragnärok shot another shrieking burst, and Nat and Dante jumped to the side to avoid it.

"Idiot," Tim muttered, as the burst ricocheted off the wall behind them. "You can't just dodge it like that." The burst flew at the yellow book in Nat's hand.

Suddenly, Nat yanked the book up, and the shrieking burst hit the floor under it and was reflected into the ceiling. He pulled Dante to his side and muttered "Don't move," as the burst ricocheted all around them. They were standing in the only safe spot in that area.

"Well, well," Tim said. "Looks like you have some talent. That move isn't of much use, is it…? HIMEIRU!"

Nat and Dante jumped to opposite sides to avoid the shrieking beam, then moved forward and joined back up.

"Dante!" Nat yelled, pointing forward. _Lance Point!_

"Got it!" Dante replied, as four stars appeared around him.

"Farga!" Dante formed Lance Point and shot forward at Tim and Ragnärok.

"HIMEIO RENKIN!" Ragnärok let out a shriek, and a black duplicate of Lance Point formed in front of her. She rushed forward, meeting Dante in the middle, and the two lances cancelled each other out, blowing Dante and Ragnärok backwards.

"Ah…" Nat murmured. _That spell… first it made a shield, then a hammer, and now it's copied Lance Point… What kind of spell is this…?_

"HIMEIRU!"

Nat and Dante dove to the side to avoid the attack.

"Oh, I'm sorry, is this battle too boring to focus on?" Tim said. "Let's make it more interesting, then." He pointed up at the ceiling and Ragnärok looked up at the spot above Nat and Dante. "HIMEIO RENKIN!"

"**GEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"**

Ragnärok fired a gigantic, shrieking beam of energy at the ceiling. Nat and Dante looked up in confusion.

_Why is he firing at the roof? _Nat thought. _Does he want to blow a hole into the – _

Nat's eyes widened as an alarm rang in his head.

"Dante!" he yelled, lunging forward, as the giant beam hit the roof and separated into dozens of smaller beams that shot towards the area Nat and Dante were in. Several of these beams hit Nat and Dante, dealing quite a bit of damage, and they both fell to the floor, battered and bruised.

"Hmmmm~, blood is flowing~" Ragnärok sang. She had a sadistic grin on her face. "Hurry and cast another spell, Tim. I want to see more of their blood~"

"Ugh…" Nat muttered, as he and Dante slowly pushed themselves up. "That spell…"

"Oh," Tim said, raising an eyebrow. "You were wondering about this spell?"

Nat shook his head. "No… I think I've finally figured it out…" He and Dante slowly stood up.

"Heh. So you'll be more of a challenge now?"

_I understand the spell now… The answer was there all along…_

"FARGA!" Nat yelled, and four stars appeared and shot beams at Tim and Ragnärok, who jumped backwards to avoid them.

"Does that answer your question?" Nat said.

'_Renkin' is Japanese for alchemy, the art of converting matter from one form into another._

"Dame Farga!" The 4x4 laser grid wall assembled and zoomed towards Tim and Ragnärok.

"That again? HIMEIRU!" The shrieking beam shot from Ragnärok's mouth and knocked one of the stars off balance.

"Version Two!"

_What that spell does is take the basic 'matter' of the mamodo's screams, and converts it into something else._

Dante flailed his arms around, and the stars responded in kind, each with two or more beams shooting out. Tim gritted his teeth in annoyance, and a rage vein popped up on his head.

"Idiot. It's the same damn thing," he muttered. "HIBIKI HIMEIRU!"

Ragnärok shot a shrieking burst upwards, which ricocheted off the ceiling and back down, and was soon pinballing around them, negating Version Two.

_So, in other words…_

"Hmph," Tim said, as the pinballing gradually stopped. "Exactly the same as –"

His eyes widened as he saw Nat and Dante almost in front of him and Ragnärok. Nat and Dante both threw punches, Dante's hitting Ragnärok, and Nat's connecting with Tim. Tim and Ragnärok were sent flying back a few feet. Tim landed on his butt, and Ragnärok skidded back on her feet. They looked at Nat and Dante in surprise.

"Himeio Renkin is a spell that allows the user to make anything out of thin air," Nat said. "Its potential is immeasurable, as long as the mamodo produces enough sound energy to convert into what they want."

"Ah…" Tim said, surprised. "So you did figure it out. You're pretty smart, kid. Unfortunately for you…" He started to get up onto his feet. "Knowing what the spell does isn't going to help you beat us."

"Maybe not," Nat said, "but now that I know what you're doing, I can concentrate on the fight and think clearly enough to figure out a way to win." The book in his hand glowed. "Dame Farga!"

The 4x4 laser grid wall assembled and zoomed towards Tim and Ragnärok.

"Tcheh," Tim said. "HIMEIO RENKIN!" Ragnärok screamed, and a huge shield formed in front of them, blocking the attack.

_That makes him less likely to mess up… which makes these guys far more dangerous. _"Ragnärok, I think we've dragged this battle on long enough. These guys' faces are really annoying. Let's use our strongest attack."

Ragnärok grinned. "Aye!" Tim raised his book, which started shining even more brightly. An alarm rang in Nat's head, and he grabbed Dante by the shoulder and jumped back.

"HIMEIO RENKIN!" Tim yelled. "SHRIEK OMEGA!"

Ragnärok let out an almighty, ear-splitting shriek, louder than any of the previous ones, and a huge purple wave-like _thing _with rows of sharp teeth appeared in front of her and zoomed towards Nat and Dante with the same shriek.

"Whoa!" Dante yelled.

"Dante!" Nat yelled, pointing at it.

"Right!" Dante aimed, and the yellow spellbook glowed brightly.

"Dame Farga!" The 4x4 laser grid wall formed and zoomed towards the shrieking creature, which just blasted right through it, unfazed.

"What?" Nat exclaimed, eyes widened. _Not even a scratch…_

"Ahh, Dante!" _Lance Point!_

"Right!" Four stars appeared around Dante.

"Farga!" Dante formed Lance Point and lunged at the shrieking wave. However, the loud shrieking messed up his concentration, and he couldn't keep Lance Point stable. The creature blasted him back, and he flipped and landed on his feet, skidding back to Nat.

"Guh… No good…" he muttered. "I can't get close enough to hit it with Lance Point… I can't concentrate because of the shrieking."

Nat gritted his teeth. _Darn it…_

"Then we'll just have to attack it from a distance!" he said. He pointed at the creature, and Dante aimed. "Farga!"

Four beams shot towards the creature, but they did almost no damage, and it just kept coming. Nat and Dante dove to the side, but the creature just changed direction and came after them.

"You can't dodge this attack," Tim said. "It won't stop until it hits its target."

"Darn it!" Nat yelled, and he and Dante started trying to outrun it. They looked back and Dante aimed at the creature. "Farga!" The beams shot at the creature, but had no effect.

"Farga!"

"Farga!"

"Farga!"

Each time the beams shot at the creature, they did almost no damage, and the creature, unfazed, continued to come after them.

"Can't you use your Answer-Talker to help us?" Dante asked frantically, turning to Nat. Nat shook his head.

"I can't concentrate with all this noise," he replied. "The Answer-Talker is useless if you can't concentrate. We just have to keep firing and hope we hit a weak spot! Farga!"

But no matter how many times they fired at it, or what Dante could throw at it, the creature was unaffected and simply kept after them.

Nat and Dante suddenly ran into a corner of the room. They turned to see the creature coming at them full speed. Tim and Ragnärok had huge grins on their faces

"We're trapped!" Dante said. "Now what?"

"We have to keep at it!" Nat replied. "No matter how tough it is, there has to be a chink in its armour! And one of these beams…" He pointed at the wave. "…will be the arrow that exposes it!" The book in his hand glowed.

"Farga!"

"Farga!"

"Dame Farga!"

None of the attacks had any effect on the creature, and it just kept coming at them.

_None of our attack spells are working on this thing! _Dante thought. _If we keep firing like this, Nat will definitely run out of heart energy, and if that happens... _

His eyes widened.

_No... I can't let that happen... I won't! I can't lose this battle no matter what! _

The spellbook started glowing brightly without Nat putting any heart energy into it.

_We gotta pierce right through this thing's armour... with an unstoppable arrow!_

"What the…" Nat muttered. His eyes widened. _Could it be…?_

He opened the book to find that he could read the words on the fourth page.

_A new spell! _he thought, and Dante looked at him in surprise. _I don't know what it does, but…_

"Dante!" he yelled.

"Yeah!" Dante aimed at the creature.

"The fourth spell…" Nat chanted, as the yellow book glowed brightly.

"Excelles Farga!"

Five more stars appeared, and the nine stars arranged themselves into a large, glowing X-shape, which fired a huge yellow bolt of light with an arrowhead. The bolt smashed right through the purple wave creature and shot towards Tim and Ragnärok.

"What?" Tim's eyes widened. _They destroyed Shriek Omega?_

Nat grinned. "Yes!"

"Aaaaaaahh!" Tim yelled, beginning to panic, as the bolt got closer. "GIGANO HIMEIRU!"

Ragnärok shot the huge shrieking beam at the approaching bolt, but it offered very little resistance as the bolt ploughed through it, only barely slowing it down.

"AAAH SHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT!" Tim yelled. "HIMEIO RENKIN!"

Ragnärok screamed, and a huge black hexagonal shield was formed in front of them. The bolt smashed into it and it immediately started to crack.

"No…" Tim whispered. "NononoNONONONONONONO –"

The shield was shattered, and Ragnärok pushed Tim out of the way as the bolt hit her head on. The black book flew out of Tim's hands right into the spell and was instantly burned up. Tim stared as Ragnärok disappeared before his eyes. Nat and Dante stared in awe.

"Wow…" Dante said.

"That's a pretty powerful spell…" Nat said.

Tim and Ragnärok had been standing in front of the large wall that ran through the middle of the building. The bolt had smashed right through it and the wall behind, leaving a gigantic X-shaped hole through which sunlight streamed in.

* * *

"Looks like we won another one," Nat said, as the two walked away from the warehouse and towards the apartment. "And now we have a powerful new spell!" He grinned and held up the yellow spellbook. Dante stayed silent for a moment.

"Nat…" he said after a while.

"Hm?"

"This guy… He used the power of that mamodo to commit crimes and even murder… I can't believe there are still humans like that." He clenched his hand in a fist. "I hate people like that more than anything! This is one of the reasons why I have to become a kind king… So that I can stop people like that from using magic to hurt others!"

Nat looked at Dante in surprise for a moment. Then a small smile spread on his face, and he put a hand on Dante's head.

"Yeah," he said. "Let's work hard to make sure that your world has a kind king!"

Dante smiled and nodded. "Yeah!"


	21. Level 21: Goin' to the USA!

The school bell rang loudly for recess, and as usual, the building was emptied at near sonic speed.

"Ah~" Kyle sighed, stretching. "Can you believe the half-term break starts tomorrow? An entire week free of school!"

He, Nat and Takato were sitting on the bench under the tree, Nat's spot, which was where they hung out during recess. Takato, as usual, had his head in a book, seemingly ignoring the other two. Nat grinned.

"Yeah," he said. "I'm pretty surprised too. Time sure flies by, doesn't it?"

Six days had passed since Nat and Dante's battle with Tim and Ragnärok, and the half-term was coming to a close. This was the last school day before the week-long midterm break.

"So what are you guys gonna do?" Kyle asked. "Oh! Dysfunktional's playing down at the Kosame Stadium on Thursday! Why don't you guys come? I can get you backstage passes and everything!"

Takato scoffed quietly, and Nat and Kyle looked over at him, Kyle with an annoyed look on his face.

"It's not like I'm forcing you …" he muttered. Nat chuckled.

"Well, thanks for the offer, Kyle, but I wouldn't be able to make it," he said. "Dante won this raffle draw thing, so we're gonna go to the USA for the week."

"EHH?" Kyle cried. "But that means you're leaving me alone with Mizuno!"

"I take offense at that," Takato muttered, without looking up. Kyle raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, you were the one who said I didn't have the 'intelligence' to use your first name –"

"No," Takato interrupted, "I take offense because you seem to think…" He looked up disdainfully at Kyle. "…that I have nothing better to do with my week than spend it with a pea-brained monkey like you."

"HEY!" Kyle yelled. "THAT WAS CRUEL!" Takato ignored him and went back to reading.

"See?" Kyle said, turning to Nat. "You can't go off and leave me with him! It isn't fair!"

"Ha ha, sorry, Kyle," Nat said, scratching the back of his head. He looked up to the sky. "To tell the truth, I've always wanted to travel to America… Although anywhere would have been good. I've always wondered what travelling's like…"

"Eh?" Kyle said, and Takato looked up from his book. The two gave him surprised looks. "You've never travelled before?"

"Nope," Nat said. "I could never afford it."

"You're not missing out on much, though," Takato said. "It only takes a few seconds to port over."

"Yeah, but then you have the registration, check-in before you go, check out after…"

"Sounds fun," Nat said, smiling. Kyle and Takato stared at him again.

"Fun…?" Kyle muttered.

_Yep, he definitely hasn't travelled before… _the two thought.

"Well, you should make sure to get up early, 'cause there are only a few pads available, and those things take hours to charge back up again," Kyle said. "And don't forget to get lots of souvenirs!"

"Hahaha, got it!" Nat said, grinning.

* * *

"Travelling?" Jiko said.

"To America?" Austin said.

Dante nodded. "Yup." The three were sitting in the sandbox at the park, making a large sandcastle.

"Lucky~" Austin said. "I'll be lucky if Takato lets me out of the _house_…" He poked at the sand with his finger. "Although he has been more… human recently…"

Dante smiled and shook his head, then noticed the slightly downcast look on Jiko's face.

"Something wrong?" he asked. Jiko looked up and shook her head.

"N-no, I'm really happy for you, but… It's just that there might be no-one to play with… Since Austin may not always be able to come…" Jiko explained. "I really like playing with you guys, so…"

"Don't worry, Jiko!" Dante said, grinning. "I'll bring back lots of stuff for you guys!"

"Amen to that!" Austin said, raising a fist. Jiko smiled a bit. "Oh, and you better not forget to tell us about your awesome adventures in the US!"

"Heh." Dante grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it!"

* * *

The next morning, Nat and Dante made their way to the Mizashi International Terminal, a huge, complex building made of tough, transparent material similar to glass in appearance. There was a large globe on the tip of the tower that topped it. Nat and Dante entered the building and looked around, awed at the polished marble floor and beautiful architectural structures.

A receptionist waved from behind a large, brown mahogany desk, and Nat and Dante made their way over.

"Ohayo," the receptionist greeted, with a warm smile. "May I help you?"

"Um, yes, please," Nat said. "We're here for the 9:30 trip to America." He showed the receptionist their tickets, and she nodded.

"Ah, yes," she said, "right this way, please." She led them to the check-in counter for their trip and guided them through the necessary procedures.

Checking in was quite a hassle, with people yelling at officers and being checked over and waiting in long lines amidst shouts of, "That's my spot, you bastard!", "Mom, I need to go potty…", and "What do you freaking MEAN I didn't pay?! I have the receipt right here!" (Some things never change…) Eventually, Nat's and Dante's boxes were taken care of, and they sat in the waiting area, which was surrounded by large, circular blue pads with screens above each. The officer in charge of the ports cleared his throat and asked everyone to please get on a pad in an orderly fashion. Nat and Dante ended up sharing a pad with an old couple.

"Here we go!" Nat said.

"Yeah!" Dante said. The pads glowed, bathing their occupants in soft blue light, and they all vanished in a flash.

* * *

A moment later, Nat, Dante and the old couple they were with appeared on a blue pad in the American International Terminal in California. Nat shook his head.

"Wow, that was something…" he said.

After getting their luggage and checking out, Nat and Dante walked out of the airport to meet a dimly lit sky as the sun slowly disappeared.

"Whoa!" Dante exclaimed. "I thought it only took a few seconds to travel!"

"Yeah, but the US is in a different time zone," Nat said. He started to walk forward. "Come on, let's find the place where we're staying."

After Nat got directions from a helpful local, the two walked down the path, heading towards the cottage they were to stay in. Nat was looking at the yellow book as they walked.

_Hmm… Now we have four spells, huh… _Nat thought._ The fourth spell, Excelles Farga… That's a pretty powerful one. It feels like we're catching up to everyone, somehow… Although the letters on the first page seem to be changing colour a bit…_ _They look darker, somehow… I wonder why?_

He was so busy staring at the book that he bumped right into someone else. They both fell over, and Dante looked over at them, confused. He froze and his eyes widened.

"Owww…" Nat muttered, getting up.

"Watch where you're going, asshole!" the other person yelled. "You defective or something?"

Nat looked at the person he had bumped into. It was a girl about thirteen years old, with short red hair and crystal blue eyes, wearing an unzipped red hoodie over a black shirt, khaki capris and black converse. The hood had fallen off her head when she bumped into him, and rage veins decorated her forehead.

"Um, sorry…" Nat said apologetically. He offered his hand, but the girl smacked it away.

"Get the fuck away from me, shithead!" she yelled. "Like I'd need the help of an idiot like you." She got up and dusted herself off, showing that she was almost a head shorter than Nat, and walked off disdainfully.

"Ah…" Nat said, sweat dropping. _What an interesting place… _

"Come on, Dante, let's go," he said, looking over to Dante, who shook himself.

"R-right…" Dante replied, and the two started walking again.

_That feeling…_ Dante thought. _Could she have been… a mamodo…?_ He looked back at the girl's retreating figure.

* * *

The girl in question walked quickly, taking a few turns here and there, until she arrived in an alley lined with doors. She knocked on the second door on the left and waited impatiently, tapping her foot, until the door slid open.

"Took you long enough," she muttered.

"Welcome back, Kira," greeted another girl, smiling. She was about fifteen, with short, straight white hair and violet eyes and wore a white T-shirt and black shorts.

"I'm starving," Kira declared, walking in to the small three-room apartment. "Gimme something to eat." The other girl sweat dropped.

"Pushy as always…" she said, letting out a sigh. "Fine, I'll get you something to eat." She went into the kitchen while Kira crashed on the big couch to the left of the room, right beside a light red book with the hourglass and five circles on the cover. There was a smaller chair to the left of it, which she wasn't allowed to sit in (but usually did anyway), as well as a faded green rug in the center of the carpeted room. The door leading to the kitchen was on the left wall beside her, right beside the door leading to the bedroom on the far wall.

The other girl came back from the kitchen carrying a tray with white rice covered with fish sauce and a large salmon and put it on Kira's lap, and Kira immediately started devouring it. The other girl sat on the smaller chair.

"So how was your day today?" she asked.

"Boring!" Kira said, with her mouth full of rice. "I couldn't find anything to do! And there was all these pedos all over the place… You should have followed me so I wouldn't be so bored!"

"Hm," the other girl hummed, shaking her head in amusement.

"No, seriously, Jo!" Kira said. "You need to get out more! You're always shutting yourself in and being boring and stuff." Jo frowned at that. "Live a little!"

"Staying in can be fun, too," she said. Kira stopped and stared at her for a second, then burst out laughing.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Good one, Jo!" she guffawed, wiping a tear from her eye. She ate the last spoonful of rice and wolfed down the salmon, then let out a loud burp.

"Oh, yuck!" Jo cried, waving the burped gas away. Kira sighed contentedly and rubbed her belly.

"So we've agreed that you're following me out tomorrow!" she beamed.

"Wait, what? When did we agree on that?"

"Doesn't matter anyway, I said so, you have to do it," Kira replied. "It's not like you can stop me from dragging you out anyways…"

Jo sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Aw, come on! It'll be so much fun if you come, I promise!" Kira said. "Pleeeeeeeeeeeaaaaase?"

Jo looked at her making big round puppy dog eyes and gave in.

"Fine."

"AWESOME!" Kira shouted. "I promise, you won't regret it! We can go to the amusement park and to the mall and to the museum and to the arcade and the pet store and Disneyland and –"

"Hey, hey, calm down," Jo said, giggling a little. "I'm the one paying, remember? Money doesn't just grow on trees, you know."

"It doesn't?" Kira said. Jo shook her head. "Aw, man. And here I was burying your wallet in the park outside…"

Jo looked up. "YOU DID WHAT?"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Kira said quickly. She didn't want to get JO of all people pissed off. "It was just a penny or two. Or four. Or ten or twenty dollars."

"_Twenty_ –" Jo sighed and rubbed her forehead. "You know what, it doesn't matter. I'll come with you tomorrow, alright?"

"Yay!" Kira said, grinning. "Oh, and don't forget to bring the book."

Jo smiled and looked at the book on the couch beside Kira. "Yeah…" A slightly sadistic look came onto her face. "You never know when one of those bastards will try to bother us."

Kira grinned sadistically. "Yeah…"

* * *

"Um, Nat, where exactly are we going?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out…"

The next day, Nat and Dante had decided to go for a walk and explore the area their cottage was in. Nat was wearing an open blue jacket over a plain white T-shirt, black jeans and trainers, and was holding up a map of the area.

"Oh, there's a park a few minutes' walk from here!" he said, pointing at the map. "Wanna go check that out?"

"O.K.!"

Kira and Jo were also making their way to that park, from an opposite direction. They were already pretty close to it, and didn't need a map, since they were used to the layout. Jo was wearing a long-sleeved green shirt and jean capris, as well as brown sandals.

_What a beautiful day it is today, _she thought, as she walked along, appreciating the nice weather. _Couldn't have been a better day to go out. Maybe Kira was right about me needing to get out more… _

"OUT OF THE WAY! ONE SIDE! COMIN' THROUGH!" Kira was blazing off in front of her, kicking everyone out of her way. She even pushed an elderly lady in a wheelchair off the sidewalk and into the road.

_Now if only she wouldn't do that…_ Jo thought, sweat dropping.

Jo and Kira soon got to the park. A group of thugs walked towards them.

"Well, well, look what the dog dragged in," the one in the front said. "I thought I told you to stay away from here."

Jo sighed. "Look, I don't want any trouble, you guys. We just came here for relax –"

"I don't remember asking you what you came here for, street rat," the thug said, cutting her off. "Stop acting like you have rights like a normal person. Scum like you should just crawl up and die."

"Get the fuck out of our way, asswipe," Kira growled.

"Hmph." The thug sneered. "Why should we listen to shits like you?"

"Seriously, move," Jo said. "Or else…"

"Or else what?" the thug said. "You want us to move so badly, why don't you try and make us?" The group of thugs leered at them menacingly.

Jo looked at them for a moment, and then a sadistic grin spread on her face. She brought out the light red spellbook, which started glowing. Kira also grinned and put out her hands.

"Okay, then," Jo said. "Don't say we didn't warn you…"

* * *

Nat and Dante were almost at the park when they spotted people running out of it in all directions, screaming in fear. Nat raised an eyebrow.

"What the…" he said. Dante's eyes widened.

_Mamodo! _he thought. _And it's the same presence as yesterday!_

"Nat, come on!" he yelled, running to the park. "There's a hostile mamodo nearby!"

Nat's eyes widened, and he ran after Dante, taking out the yellow book.

When the two reached the park, they were met with quite a sight. Two girls were standing in the middle, with badly burned bodies strewn all around them. The taller of the two was holding a glowing light red spellbook, and the shorter one had smoke coming out of her hands. Dante gasped when he saw the smaller girl.

"That's the girl from yesterday!" he said.

"That's what you get," Jo said.

"Hey, how about another one for good luck?" Kira suggested, bringing her hands up and pointing at some of the thugs.

"Sure, why not," Jo said. She began to chant a spell. "Jo-"

"FARGA!" Four beams shot forward at Kira and Jo, and Kira pushed Jo out of the way. They both landed on the floor, and Jo slowly got up.

"What the…" she muttered.

"You're the one who did this?"

Jo and Kira turned to see Nat and Dante walking towards them, Nat holding out the yellow spellbook.

"Yeah," Jo said. "What's it to you?"

"I see…" Nat muttered. "Well, in that case…" The book in his hand shone brightly, and Jo cringed at the looks on his and Dante's faces. "It looks like we've found a new opponent."

* * *

**Mamodo team debut: Kira and Jo**

**Submitted by Tsuki6047**


	22. Level 22: The Fire Raisers

"Ready, Dante?" Nat asked.

Dante nodded. "Yeah. These guys were hurting humans with their power… just because they could! There's no way we can lose to them!"

Kira looked closely at them and her eyes widened slightly in recognition.

"Oh, it's the guy from yesterday who knocked me over," she said. "I thought there was something odd about you." She grinned. "So you want to fight, eh? Come on, then. I'll pound you guys into the –"

"FARGA!" Four beams shot at her before she was finished. The beams slammed into her, knocking the breath out of her and sending her flying back and into Jo, who was knocked off her feet. The two flew over the fence and out into the street, where they landed with a thud. Kira and Jo slowly got up and saw Dante dashing towards them.

"Whoa!" Kira yelped. She quickly put her hands forward. "Jo!"

"Yeah!" Jo replied, and the book in her hand started glowing. "Joru!"

Red fireballs shot from Kira's hands and flew at Dante, who crossed his arms in front of him for protection. He pushed right through them and continued forward, thick lines of smoke streaming from his arms, and got in front of Kira and Jo, whose eyes widened in panic.

"Uwaaaahh!" Jo yelped, and her spellbook glowed brightly. An alarm went off in Nat's head.

"Dante!" he yelled. _Move back now!_

"Kishio!" Jo yelled, and Dante jumped backward as Kira slammed her hand on the ground and burned up the area in a small radius around them, completely dodging the attack.

"Wha –" Kira yelped. _How did they know what the spell would do?_

"Dante!" Nat yelled. _Lance Point!_

"Right!" Dante replied, and four stars appeared around him.

"Farga!" Dante formed Lance Point and shot forward at Kira and Jo.

"Holy shit!" Kira yelped, and put her hands up in front of her.

"Sokushield!" Jo yelled, and a large circular red shield surrounded by flames appeared in front of her and Kira. Dante ploughed right through it and smashed the point of Lance Point into the ground, destroying it, and Kira and Jo were sent flying backwards. They landed hard on the ground and skidded backwards, and slowly got up again.

"Oww…" Kira groaned. "These guys are pretty tough…"

Jo nodded in agreement. "What have we gotten ourselves into this time, Kira…?"

"Dante!" Nat yelled. Dante nodded and aimed at Kira and Jo again. The yellow spellbook started glowing very brightly.

"Excelles Farga!" The large X-shape was formed, and the giant bolt of light shot out towards Kira and Jo. Their eyes widened.

"FUCK!" Kira swore.

"So-Sokushield!" Jo yelled.

"What are you doing?" Kira shouted. "Sokushield isn't gonna do shit to this level of attack!" She slammed into Jo, pushing them both out of the way of the bolt as it streamed past them.

_Th-these guys… They're on a different level…_ Jo thought. _They're way more powerful than we are… We're done for now… We can't compete with these guys… _The glow from her book started to dim.

"What are you doing, Jo?"

Jo snapped out of her despair-induced trance and looked up at Kira, who was standing up in front of her.

"Don't just sit there and stare blankly like a dumbass!" she continued. "You gotta concentrate on the battle!"

She shot forward at Dante, fist raised. Dante easily caught her punch, though, and slammed her head into the ground for her trouble. Dante twisted Kira's arm behind her back and held her down as Nat prepared to cast another spell.

"Kira!" Jo cried. _Darn it, why do you have to be so reckless? I have to do something! _

She suddenly got an idea. "Kira, put your other hand on the ground!"

"What?" Kira yelled, confused.

"Just do it!" Kira complied. The book in Jo's hands glowed brightly.

"Kishio!" This time, Dante wasn't able to react quickly enough, and he was blasted back, away from Kira. Kira grinned and shot forward at him, fist raised. However, before she could reach him he landed hands-first on the ground and pushed off, and Kira ran right into his kangaroo kick. She was sent flying backwards, and before she could hit the ground he was right under her, two stars aimed at her back.

"FARGA!"

Two searing hot beams slammed into Kira's back, blasting her forward. She was sent flying for a few metres before landing hard on the ground, the wind knocked out of her.

"Ah!" Jo gasped.

Kira slowly started to push herself up off the floor. She got on one shaky knee before bending over and coughing up some blood.

"KIRA!" Jo yelled, alarmed. She started towards Kira, but halted at the sight of three stars hovering right in front of her. She let out a startled cry and tried to back away, but stopped when she saw that the stars were following her every movement. She looked at Dante, who was aiming at her, and Nat, whose book was shining brightly.

"Checkmate," Nat said.

Kira slowly looked up and saw Jo's situation. Her eyes widened.

"JO!" she yelled. She gritted her teeth in anger. "Don't you DARE lay a finger on her!"

She launched herself at Dante and smashed a fist into the side of his face, sending him flying back. The stars in front of Jo fell to the ground and disappeared.

Dante landed on his side and skidded back a few metres before stopping. He got up to face Jo, but she was already in front of him before he could move. Jo started laying into him with a flurry of punches before throwing an uppercut into his chin, sending his head up and knocking him off balance for a second.

"JO!" she yelled, drawing a hand back. Jo nodded and the book in her hands glowed brightly.

"JORU!" she chanted, and a large fireball formed in Kira's hand. She pushed her hand forward as Dante regained his footing and smashed it right into his face. Nat's eyes widened a bit.

"Yes!" Jo said, punching the air. Kira grinned as a cloud of smoke billowed around Dante.

"Heh," she said. "That's what you get." She wiped the trickle of blood from her mouth with the back of her hand.

There was a moment of silence as Nat, Jo and Kira looked at Dante's still figure. Then, the silence was broken by a small whisper.

"Why…?"

Kira recoiled in shock, which also registered on Jo's face.

"No way…" Jo whispered.

"You had enough power to hurt all those people… to burn them to that degree…" Dante continued, shaking slightly. The smoke cleared to show that he was almost unaffected by Kira's flame attack, and there was a look of fury in his eyes.

"So why…" he continued, "do you keep using these weak spells against me?"

"You've gotta be shitting me!" Kira exclaimed, jumping back.

_He… he just took a fireball to the face… like it was nothing…? _Jo thought. Dante gritted his teeth and both his hands closed into fists.

"ANSWER THE QUESTION!" he roared, and lunged forward at Kira. Before she could react he slammed his fist into her gut, sending her flying back. Nat's eyes went wide.

_Crap, _he thought. _Dante is seriously pissed off…_

Kira landed on her feet, stumbling for a bit before regaining her footing. She coughed up some blood and looked up to see Dante rushing at her.

"KYAAAAAAH!" she shrieked, putting both hands up in front of her. "JO!"

"CRAP!" Jo yelled, and grasped the book in her hands tightly. It started glowing brightly. "JORU, JORU, JORU, JORU, JORUUU!"

Kira quickly shot five large fireballs at Dante at near-submachine speed. Without even slowing down, he raised his fist and blasted right through them.

"STOP…" The first was dispersed immediately with one punch…

"LOOKING…" As was the second…

"DOWN…" The third…

"ON…" The fourth…

"ME!" And the fifth. He reached Kira and smashed into her with a flurry of punches, and then grabbed her arm and flung her in Jo's direction. She landed hard in front of Jo, who rushed forward.

"Kira!" she yelled frantically, kneeling by Kira's almost still figure. She was badly beaten, covered in burns and bruises from Dante's attack. Kira stirred and slowly got up on one knee. She grimaced and spat out some blood.

"That hurt…" she muttered.

"NAT!" The two snapped their heads up to look at Dante, who was aiming at them. "THE SECOND SPELL!"

Nat nodded shakily, and the book in his hand glowed brightly.

"DAME FARGA!" he yelled, and the 4x4 laser grid wall formed and zoomed at Kira and Jo.

"Aw, COME ON!" Kira yelled, putting her hands up in front of her.

"SOKUSHIELD!" Jo yelled, and the large red shield appeared in front of them. Just before the laser wall hit the shield, Dante started flailing his arms around, and the stars responded in kind, each with two or more beams shooting out.

"VERSION TWO!" he yelled. The beams from the stars started to rip up the shield.

"Shiiiit!" Kira groaned, struggling to maintain the shield.

"Please don't break, please don't break, please don't break," Jo prayed, repeating it like a mantra. However, after a while numerous cracks appeared in the shield.

"Kuh…!" Kira gritted her teeth. "Can't… keep this up… much longer…!"

Suddenly, the shield shattered, and Kira and Jo were thrown back slightly. They landed right in the middle of the spell. The two quickly got up on their feet and Kira put her hands up in front of her.

"Sokushield!" Jo yelled. But nothing happened. Jo widened her eyes and tried again.

"Sokushield!"

"Sokushield!"

"SOKUSHIELD!"

But nothing happened.

"Jo, hurry up and cast the spell!" Kira yelled frantically.

"I… I can't."

"WHAT?" Kira turned round to face her and saw the look of despair on her face.

"I can't cast any more spells! I don't have any heart energy left!" Jo said. Kira's eyes widened.

"Then we're done for…" she muttered. She sank to her knees and started shaking. "My book… my book is gonna get burned to a crisp… I'm gonna be sent back to the Mamodo World… I'll never see you again…"

Jo's eyes went wide.

"NO!" she yelled. "There's no way I'll let that happen! I'll protect your book no matter what!" She held the book close to her to protect it and glared forward at Nat and Dante. "You're not going anywhere!"

Nat's eyes widened as he saw the look of desperation, fear and something else he couldn't quite place in Jo's eyes.

_I know that look…_

Dante was concentrating so intently on Version Two that he didn't even notice Nat walk up and stand beside him. Nat gently put a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's stop fighting now."

Dante looked up at him sharply. "What?"

"These guys aren't bad people," Nat said. "I don't want to fight them anymore."

Dante just stared up at him for a second. Then he stopped moving his arms, and the stars stopped spinning and disappeared. Jo and Kira looked at Nat and Dante in surprise. Kira immediately got up and took a defensive stance in front of Jo.

"Why did you stop attacking?" she growled.

"I don't want to fight anymore," Nat said. "This battle is over." Kira's eyes narrowed.

"You're lying," she said. "Why should we trust you?"

Nat simply shrugged in response.

"Whether you trust me or not, the fact is I'm not casting any more spells," he said. "You can attack if you don't believe me, but we won't retaliate." He dropped the spellbook in his hand on to the ground beside him. Jo looked at Nat with wide eyes.

_He's sparing us…_ she realised. A look of shock and disbelief crossed Kira's face, followed shortly by a look of fury.

"So what, you're taking pity on us now?" she snarled. "You think you're so much better than us that our book isn't even worth burning? Is that it?" She stood upright and glared at Nat. "We're just a waste of energy, huh?"

Nat said nothing. A vein popped up on Kira's forehead.

"Who the fuck do you think you are, asshole?" she yelled. "You think you can just waltz in here, bash on us until we're half dead, and then just leave? Don't underestimate us just because you're a bit stronger than we are! I'll kick your ass any day of the week!"

"Certainly didn't do a very good job of it today," Dante muttered, just loud enough for Kira to hear.

"What did you just say?" she snarled, taking a step forward. Jo put a hand on her shoulder.

"Kira, stop it," she said quietly. "We can't fight anymore. I don't have any heart energy left, remember? Let's take this chance and go before they change their minds."

Kira looked back at her in annoyance, gritting her teeth. After a moment, she let out a heavy breath.

"Fine," she said. "Fine!" She faced Nat and Dante again. "We'll let you off the hook this time, just because I'm bored. Scum like you aren't worth the effort." She turned around. "Jo, we're leaving!" She started walking off.

"H-hey, wait up!" Jo cried, and quickly got up and went after her. Nat and Dante watched their retreating figures.

"Nat," Dante said, after a moment.

"Hmm?"

"Why did you stop the battle? You saw what they did to those people."

Nat shrugged. "I have a feeling that those guys had it coming to them."

"That doesn't make it right. Mamodo shouldn't ever use their power to hurt humans. Those people had nothing to do with the Mamodo Battle." Dante looked up at him. "Besides, you still haven't answered my question. Why did you let them go?"

Nat shrugged again. "I… don't know, Dante. It just didn't feel right to burn their book. And I kind of get the feeling that they aren't bad people." He looked around him at the damage the battle had done, as the sound of approaching fire trucks reached them. "First things first. Let's get out of here before we get ourselves locked up."

* * *

"Aaarrrggghh! I just _hate _people like that!" Kira fumed, as she and Jo walked. "They think they're all that just because they're a _little bit_ better than you! I mean, what the hell was that? He was just like, 'Oh, actually, I don't think I'll burn your book after all, even though you're practically _half-dead _and would be easy pickings for any other team, because I'm bored of fighting you.' Ugh! Stupid asshole! I just wanna wring his neck so bad right now!" She turned to Jo. "And you! Why the hell are you so weak?"

"What?" Jo's eyes went wide. "Weak? Me?"

"No, my great uncle Charlie," Kira said sarcastically. "Of course I'm talking about you, dumbass! If you didn't have so little heart energy, we could have kept fighting!"

"Well, I wouldn't have needed to use so much heart energy if you didn't have such pathetic spells!" Jo shot back.

"Sh-shut up!" Kira yelled. "There's nothing wrong with my magic! It's plenty strong!"

"Yeah, for toasting marshmallows," Jo muttered under her breath.

Meanwhile, unknown to the two, another pair was watching them from the rooftop of a building nearby.

"Ready?" the smaller of the two asked. The other, taller one sighed.

"Are we really trying this again?" the taller one asked. "We've tried at least seven times, and the response has always been negative. Maybe we should just give up on this one…"

"What?" the smaller one exclaimed. "No way! That's quitter talk! You should know by now that I don't give up easily on anything." A grin spread on his face, showing his sharp, pointed teeth.

"All right, then," the taller one said. "But are they even worth the effort? I mean, they're pretty weak, right? You can sense other mamodo's power, right?"

The smaller one nodded. "Yeah, admittedly, she's not exactly the strongest mamodo or anything like that. But she has potential. And they have the hatred already – that's all that we need. Besides…" He grinned again. "The more people we can gather together for our cause, the better."

* * *

**And that's chapter twenty-two FINALLY done! :D Here's my belated Christmas gift to you all. Although I'd be surprised if people still read this anymore... T.T Season's greetings! I am really, really sorry that this took so long to write. I wanted to have it up ages ago, around the Christmas holidays, but I had a massive writer's block almost all the way through, then a tiny breakthrough, then I got stuck again. DX And of course, with school and stuff before that, I really had no time to write much. I finally found a way to finish the chapter, though. Hopefully it wasn't too awful. :P I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Danke for the reviews! Almost at 200! :D I was happy to see your responses, and I'm glad new people are still finding and reading this even after all this time. ^_^ So I'd like to extend my thanks to Bren Tenkage, Tsuki6047, thatguy3331, DeathySophia, Seto Yami-Lord of Darkness (glad to hear that you're starting to like the story more! :D), the Pocketwatch Ripper, and TheRandomGirl (Nice name XD Glad you like the story!)! And thanks to anyone who still reads this! If you have any suggestions or any concerns about something in the story, something that you'd like to see more of, something you really like, or just want to say hi, or whatever - please do drop a review! I'd really appreciate it. ^_^**

**So until next time (which hopefully won't take as long),**

**Cyaz!**


	23. Level 23: Join Us

Jo let out a sigh.

"You know, you're really heavy," she commented. She was addressing Kira, who was now being carried on her back. "You need to stop eating so much."

"Shut up!" Kira replied. "Stop whining and keep walking. You should be grateful. I'm helping you get stronger!"

Jo rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, Kira…" She looked ahead. "Honestly. You're the one who got herself beaten almost to a pulp, and then you just rush off like nothing happened. Then you go and collapse almost five minutes after. I wonder about you sometimes." She shook her head. "In any case, we should be home soon, so just take it easy and have a rest."

There was a short moment of silence as they continued on. Kira suddenly spoke up.

"Jo?"

"Mm?" Jo answered.

"Um… Thanks for this. Carrying me, I mean."

"Huh?" Jo looked back at her, confused. "What're you talking about? Of course I was gonna carry you, dummy. It's not like you can move yourself, anyway, right?"

"I guess…" Kira muttered. "Well, thanks anyway. And I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said you were weak."

Jo shrugged. "Yeah, well, I shouldn't have said your magic was no good."

"But it is!" Kira said. "You saw it in the battle we just got out of. The only spell that had any effect on that star kid was Kishio, and only because he was too close to dodge it."

Jo remained silent, unable to think of any counter points. Kira sighed.

"I don't get it," she said. "Why is my magic so weak? I mean, it's plenty enough to burn humans to the point of not being recognisable right? Then again, you humans are pretty pathetic." A rage vein popped up on Jo's head, but Kira continued before she could say anything on the matter. "But whenever we're up against another mamodo team, we can never do anything to 'em. It doesn't make any sense. I mean, I'm clearly fucking awesome, right?"

"Well, actually –" Jo began to say.

"So I should be, like, the strongest mamodo in the Tournament!" Kira interrupted. "Instead, I get these lame-ass spells. Why?"

"Well, we do tend to avoid battles, mostly, don't we?" Jo mused. "Maybe it's just lack of battle experience?"

"Or maybe," a voice suddenly said, "you just haven't found the right targets to fight yet."

Jo jumped, and Kira's eyes widened in shock. They looked to their left to see two figures emerge from an alleyway. One of them was a dark-skinned boy about ten years old, with dirt-brown hair and green eyes, and six lines on his face, three for each side, starting at the bottom of his eyes and running down his cheeks. He wore a sleeveless white Arabian-style vest, puffy white shorts and brown sandals. The other was a girl about thirteen years old, with black hair and dull blue eyes, who wore a long, ragged brown cloak and brown boots. She was holding a light brown book in her hands. Kira lowered her head and let out a groan.

_Oh, crap, _Jo though. _These are the last two people we need to see right now..._

"Hello again, Kira," the boy grinned.

"Not this again!" Kira groaned. She raised her head to look at him. "What do you want, Ranjit?"

"Nothing, nothing," the boy, Ranjit, replied. "Just to remind you that my offer still stands. We would be more than happy to have someone like you in our group, so –"

"No," Kira interrupted flatly.

"No hesitation?" Ranjit cried, sweat-dropping. "Don't you want to give it some more thought?"

"Not particularly," Kira said. "We done here or what?"

"Aw, come oooooonn," Ranjit whined. "Won't you at least consider it? I mean, we have some pretty tough mamodo on our side already. Join our team, and you're almost guaranteed to make it at least until the mamodo count drops to 70. You'd never have to get into tough battles like the one you just came out of."

Jo's eyes widened in surprise. "How did you –"

"Seriously?" Ranjit said flatly. "You're both covered in burns and bruises. It doesn't take a genius."

"Lucky for you," Kira muttered, just loud enough for Ranjit to hear. He chose to ignore it.

"Anyway," he said, "joining our team is a really great honour. I wouldn't even be bothering with you if I didn't think you were worthy. So will you please become a member already? At least just think about it."

"No," Kira repeated. "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't need any help? I'm doing just fine on my own. Seriously, just go away and leave me alone." She tugged on the back of Jo's shirt. "Come on, Jo, let's go. I know a shortcut."

"And you tell me this now..." Jo muttered. She turned around and started off in the direction Kira pointed out. A shadow came across Ranjit's face.

"Did I say you could leave...?"

"Claydam!" Ranjit's partner chanted, and a wall of brown, claylike earth erupted just in front of Kira and Jo.

"What the..." Jo said, startled.

"Oi, Genie-boy, what do you think you're doing?" Kira said irritably. She turned around to face Ranjit. "Get this stupid thing out of the wa-"

The rest of the sentence was caught in her throat when she saw the cold look on Ranjit's face. The book in his partner's hands was glowing brightly.

"I really didn't want to have to do this..." he muttered darkly. "But if you won't join our team willingly... I'll make you join!"

* * *

Meanwhile, some distance away, Nat and Dante were leaning against a wall, panting heavily in an effort to catch their breath.

"That... was close..." Dante panted.

"Yeah..." Nat agreed. "I don't think... I've ever run... that fast... in my life..."

Silence fell again, save for their loud gasping and panting. After a while Dante spoke up.

"Hey... Nat?"

"Yeah...?"

"This just occurred to me, but... why exactly did we run away?"

Nat was silent for a moment. That was a good question; why _had_ they fled? Now that he thought of it, there was no real reason to suspect two boys who were more likely than not to be victims or unlucky bystanders caught up in the hubbub. In fact, running away was... far more suspicious behaviour...

"I... have no idea, actually..." he muttered, sweat-dropping. _Great... Now we're probably prime suspects or something..._

Nat forgot that he was still holding the yellow book in his hand, meaning that almost immediately after that thought went through his head, Dante whipped his head round and stared at him in wide-eyed panic. "WHAT?"

"Ah..." Nat went, sweat-dropping again. "Joke... It was a joke..."

Dante, however, was unconvinced, and managed to work himself into a frenzy pretty quickly. Soon, Nat could hear all sorts of fearful thoughts going through the young boy's head. He let out a sigh; this link they shared was great and all, but sometimes...

Suddenly an alarm rang off in his head. He looked up sharply, eyes wide.

_Danger? _he thought, looking around frantically. _Is it another mamodo? No, wait... this feeling... it's like the one I got when the shopping district bank was robbed..._

"Come on, Dante!" he yelled, as he turned and started running down the street. Dante started.

"Nat?" he called, confused. "What's wrong? Where are we going?"

"Just follow me!" Nat replied, and started running faster as the feeling intensified. Dante quickly followed.

_Someone's in real trouble!_

* * *

"Grandsen!"

Ranjit slammed his hand down on the ground, and stone cannons erupted from the ground behind him and shot out huge boulders which flew at Jo and Kira. Jo, with Kira still on her back, dived into a side alley to avoid the attack, as the boulders smashed down upon the spot where she had been standing a minute ago. Jo sprang up and started running down the alley, holding on to Kira tightly to make sure she wouldn't fall off, with Ranjit and his book owner right behind them. Kira spotted a small opening leading out into a different street.

"Jo!" she yelled. "Over there!" She pointed at the opening, and Jo ran towards it.

"Oh, no you don't!" Ranjit yelled. "You won't get away that easily! Kaera!" His partner nodded, and the book in her hands started glowing.

"Groundam!" she chanted. Ranjit slammed his hand on the ground and two huge slabs of concrete rose from the ground in front of the opening just as Jo got into it and slammed together.

"Whoa!" Jo jumped back just before she was caught in the middle of the two slabs. They had avoided being crushed, but the opening was now blocked, meaning they had to go back into the alley. She swore under her breath and turned round to see Ranjit and Kaera standing there.

"Gotcha," Ranjit grinned, stretching out his hand as the book in Kaera started glowing.

"Groun–"

Jo rushed forward at them and pushed past them just before Kaera could finish the spell, and turned right and ran down another path. Ranjit swore, and he and Kaera quickly followed. Kira looked behind her and saw them chasing after her and Jo again.

"Uh, Jo?" she said worriedly. "They're still coming!"

"Not for long, they're not!" Jo replied, and abruptly changed paths. She started changing direction frequently, taking different paths and ducking into side alleys in an effort to shake her pursuers. After a while, Jo looked back to see that Ranjit and Kaera weren't behind them anymore. A grin spread across her face.

"I think we lost 'em!" she said.

"Not quite!" Kira said in alarm, looking forward. "Jo, in front of you!"

Jo faced forward again to see Ranjit and Kaera waiting up ahead. "Holy shit!" She skidded to a stop, turned around and started running in the opposite direction. Ranjit shook his head as Kaera's book started glowing brightly.

"Grandbao!" she chanted. Ranjit smashed his fist into the ground, and the ground below Jo exploded outwards, blasting her and Kira forward a few feet. Jo held on to Kira tightly to stop her from flying off, and the two landed hard on the ground, winded. Jo slowly got up and started moving again.

"It's no use..." Ranjit muttered, and he and Kaera walked after them.

Jo turned left into a side path and ran down as fast as she could. She suddenly halted right before she could run right into a wall. She looked left and right, but there were no other paths for her to take.

"There you are," a voice said from behind her. She turned around to see Ranjit and Kaera walking up to them. A cold grin spread across Ranjit's face.

"Looks like a dead end," he continued. Kira slowly got off Jo's back and stood in front of her protectively, arms spread.

"Kira!" Jo exclaimed.

"Oh, cute," Ranjit commented, raising an eyebrow in amusement. "But I don't really think you're in a position to do anything right now."

"Claydo!" Kaera chanted, and clay erupted from the ground under Kira and Jo and wrapped around them, immobilising them. Ranjit walked forward.

"Pathetic," he muttered. " Getting beaten up this badly by some low-class spells..." He stopped a few feet in front of them and put his hand on his chin. "What to do, what to do... Well, I could easily just burn your book and be done with it. Or I could just drag you back with me by force. It would be really easy, since you're so pathetically weak..."

"Oh, I've got an idea," Kira said, glaring at him. "You could just fuck off and leave us alone."

"Yeah, I could, but where's the fun in that?" Suddenly Ranjit's eyes lit up. "I know!"

The clay around Kira and Jo wriggled for a moment, and then the chunk around Jo stretched up and out, bringing her to Ranjit. He smirked and slowly closed his hand, and the clay started to squeeze down hard on Jo, who started shrieking. Kira's eyes widened.

"Jo!" she cried. "Stop it! Leave her alone, you prick!"

"Relax," Ranjit replied. "Your book owner isn't going to die from this. She's pretty tough, for a human." A piece of clay extended from the clay around Jo towards Ranjit, holding the light red spellbook. Ranjit took it and held it up.

"Here's the deal," he continued. "Either you join our team willingly, and promise not to try and run away or rebel against us, or..." He closed his hand again, and the clay around Jo started to squeeze down harder. "I squeeze the life out of her, slowly, until there's nothing left, and then I'll burn your book. The choice is yours. Join us, and be guaranteed to at least reach the 70-point, or watch as your partner dies slowly and painfully, before being sent back home in disgrace. The clock's ticking..." As he spoke, sickening cracking sounds could be heard coming from Jo, and she started shrieking louder.

"JO!" Kira yelled. She started struggling to get free of the clay ensnaring her.

"Don't even bother," Ranjit said. "For someone as weak as you, the harder you struggle, the tighter it'll get. You can't get free in time to save her." His pupils shrank, and a frightening expression crossed his face. "_**Make your choice!**_"

Suddenly, yellow beams shot down from above. They sliced through the clay and released Jo, who fell to the ground, unconscious. A star came out of nowhere and whacked the back of Ranjit's hand, forcing him to release Jo's book. He let out a yell of pain, and surprise crossed Kaera's face.

"What the –"

"Hey."

Ranjit, Kaera, and Kira looked up to see Nat and Dante standing on a low hanging roof nearby. Dante was aiming at Ranjit, and Nat had the yellow spellbook open in his hand.

"You!" Kira exclaimed, shocked.

"Back off," Nat said, as the book in his hand started to glow, "or we'll make you."

* * *

**And that's the twenty-third chapter done. ^_^ Hope you liked it! I'm sorry this took so long, but between school and getting stuck more times than I can count, I wasn't able to finish it until literally just now. :/ ****Now, before you guys judge what Ranjit is promising (the heartless bastard), the Millenium Battle started out with 350, remember. Personally, I think he's offering a pretty good deal.**

**I have something to confess. Pre-university is much harder than I thought it would be, and it's taking everything I have just to get through. I need to concentrate more on school work, and as a result, I'm putting this story on a very weak semi-hiatus. This means I'm still gonna continue this story, but you should expect updates to be few and far between; I'll try to put up an update roughly once every one and a half months, but I can't promise anything.**

**Well, anyway, thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter: thatguy3331, StampedingYak90 (thanks, man! :D), Bren Tenkage, shadowdawg96 (good to hear from ya! How's your story coming along?), Dodgerjoey (well, thanks! Good to hear from you!), ****Seto-Yami Lord of Darkness, ****DeathySophia, and, uh, 'just some reader who's kept up' (thanks for the kind words, dude(ette?)! I'll see what I can do.), as well as everyone still reading my story - you guys keep me going! :D **

**Hoping to see you guys with an update soon,**

**Cyaz!**


	24. Level 24: I Know How You Feel

Jiko sighed and poked at the sand in front of her. She was at the park, sitting alone in the sandbox. Kyle had a rehearsal today, and she didn't want to bother him, so she came to the park, but she was seriously starting to regret it. The park itself was almost empty, since it was pretty early, and the few kids that were there weren't interested in playing with her.

Suddenly she perked up and looked over to the gate to see Austin standing at the park entrance and scanning the area. A smile crossed her face, and she waved. Austin spotted her and a grin spread on his own face.

"Jiko!" he called, and quickly made his way over to the sandbox.

"Hi, Austin," Jiko said.

"Morning," Austin replied cheerily. "Didn't think you'd be here this early."

"Well, Dysfunktional has a rehearsal today, and I didn't want to get in the way..." Jiko explained.

"Oh," Austin said. He grinned. "Well, it's really lucky that I could come to the park today, then, isn't it? But, uh..." A confused expression spread on his face. "Why are you sitting here by yourself?"

"Well, no one wants to play with me," Jiko replied. "I guess it's because of the way I'm dressed, but everyone tends to stay away from me. The only reason they played with me before was because you and Dante were here..."

Austin frowned. "That doesn't sound right."

Jiko shrugged. "It's okay. I'm pretty used to it by now. Although it was fun playing with everyone..."

Austin looked at Jiko for a moment, and then sat down next to her in the sandbox.

"You really miss Dante, don't you?" he asked. Jiko turned to look at him.

"Of course I miss him!" she replied, incredulous. "He's my friend! It would be the same if you were to go off somewhere for a week."

Austin smirked. "No, I'm pretty sure it's not quite the same."

A puzzled look crossed Jiko's face. "What do you mean?"

"I'm pretty sure you wouldn't miss me as much as you miss Dante."

"Austin, you're my friend, too. I haven't known you as long, sure, but that doesn't mean –"

"Are you sure you miss him _just_ as a friend?"

A small blush spread on Jiko's face. "Wh-what's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, come on, Jiko," Austin prompted. "Don't play dumb. You know what I mean."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Do I really need to spell this out for you?"

"That would be nice..."

Austin sighed and looked Jiko in the eye. "You like Dante, right?"

Jiko's blush intensified. "W-well, yeah, of course I like him, he's my friend."

"Nooooo, you know that's not what I meant. You _like_ him, like him."

Jiko's face went beet red. "Wh-wh-what? N-no I don't!"

"Yes, you do," Austin replied, a catlike smirk crossing his face. "You wanna make kissy-kissy face with Dante-kun~"

"Sh-shut up! I do not!"

"Oho? Then why're you blushing so hard?"

"I-I'm not b-blushing!" Jiko exclaimed, trying to hide her face behind her arm.

"Your face is as red as a tomato."

"M-my face is c-completely normal!"

"Dante and Jiko, sitting in a tree~ K-I-S-S-I-N-G~"

"Sh-SHUT UP!"

Austin laughed, and then looked up at the sky. "Well, it's not like I don't miss Dante too. But at least he's having fun in America." Jiko peeked at him out of the corner of her eye as a thoughtful expression crossed his face. "I wonder what he's doing now..."

* * *

The book in Nat's hand glowed brightly as Ranjit, Kaera and Kira stared up at him and Dante in shock.

_What the hell are these guys doing here? _Kira thought. The shock on Ranjit's face quickly turned to anger.

"What did you just say?" he snarled.

"You heard me," Nat said. "Leave them alone, or your book is forfeit."

"Hah? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Rage veins decorated Ranjit's head. "What we choose to do to them has nothing to do with you! Butt out! Kaera!" Kaera nodded, and the book in her hands glowed.

"Grandbao!" Ranjit slammed his hands down onto the ground, and a crack travelled from in front of him along the ground and up the front of the building that Nat and Dante were standing on. Nat and Dante quickly dived off the roof just before it exploded, and Dante aimed at Ranjit as they fell to the ground.

"Farga!" Four yellow beams slammed into Ranjit, sending him flying out of the alley, away from where Kira and Jo were. The clay that was constricting Kira lost its form, and she fell to the ground, covered in clay. Kaera let out a small yelp and hurried after Ranjit.

Nat went over to Jo's still form and checked her over. She had two broken ribs and a broken arm, but other than that she was fine. He let out a sigh of relief.

_Good, she's okay, _he thought.

"Get the fuck away from her!"

Nat looked up to see Kira crawling towards them, fury in her eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Do I _look _okay to you, dumbass?" Kira retorted harshly. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Come back to finish the job, have you?"

Nat raised an eyebrow. "Uh, no. I think I made it pretty clear that I'm not going to touch your book."

"Then why are you helping us?"

"Well, you're obviously not in any sort of state to be doing anything," Dante said, glancing at Kira out of the corner of his eye. He was facing forward in the direction Ranjit had been blasted, with his back to her, Nat and Jo.

"Like you give a crap what happens to us!" Kira snarled. "Back off!" She smacked Nat's hands away from Jo, struggled up onto her feet and stood in front of Jo protectively. "And answer my question!" Nat sighed and shook his head, then got up onto his feet.

"I'd think the answer's pretty obvious," he said. He turned around and faced the same way as Dante. "Let's go, Dante." Dante nodded, and the two walked out towards Ranjit and Kaera. Kira's eyes widened.

_Wait... they really aren't here for my book...? _

She slumped over and fell to her knees, pain and exhaustion getting the better of her.

_But then why...?_

Ranjit growled as he slowly got up onto his feet. Kaera hurried to his side, but he waved her off impatiently.

"Leave me be!" he snapped. "I'm fine!" A hurt and worried expression came onto Kaera's face, but he ignored it.

"Farga!"

Yellow beams shot out of the alley, towards Ranjit. His eyes widened slightly.

"Tch," he exhaled.

"Clayshield!" Kaera chanted. Ranjit raised his hand, and clay rose from the ground like a thin wall, blocking the beams. The clay receded, and Ranjit glared at Nat and Dante, who emerged from the alley.

"You idiots..." he growled. He rushed at them. "Don't think you've won just because you managed to catch me off guard once!" The book in Kaera's hands started glowing brightly.

"Groundcrag!" Ranjit smashed his fist into the ground in front of Nat and Dante, destroying the area, and they were blown back by the force. Dante flipped and landed on his feet, and Nat hit the ground and quickly got back up. They quickly looked up to see Ranjit coming at them, and Dante shot forward to intercept him.

The two mamodo met in the middle and exchanged a flurry of hits. Dante threw a furious barrage of punches at Ranjit, but he managed to avoid most of them and block the rest. He caught Dante's fist, pulled him forward and slammed his knee into Dante's stomach, knocking the wind out of him and making him cough up some blood, and followed up with a hefty uppercut, which threw Dante's head back and knocked him off balance.

Dante stumbled backwards, then regained his footing and came at Ranjit again. He ducked under Ranjit's kick and smashed a fist into his stomach, sending him flying back a few feet. Ranjit hit the ground hard, and then sprang up onto his feet to see Dante rushing at him. His eyes widened.

"Groundgarudo!" Kaera yelled, and Ranjit slammed his hand on the ground. An alarm rang off in Nat's head, but before he could yell out a warning large spikes erupted from the ground under Dante, knocking him high up. Dante recovered quickly, flipped in the air and dived towards Ranjit.

"Nat!" he yelled. _Lance Point! _Nat nodded and his book started glowing brightly.

"Farga!" Four stars appeared around Dante and streamed beams that converged into a point in front of him, creating Lance Point, and he slammed the point into the ground, destroying the area and blowing Ranjit much further back.

Kira watched the battle with awe from the safety of the alley entrance, carrying Jo on her back.

_These guys are pretty damn strong... _she thought. _To be able to push Ranjit like this..._

Ranjit landed hard on his side and skidded back a few metres, and slowly got up onto one knee. He wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and gritted his teeth.

_What the hell kind of crazy attack was that? _he thought. He got on his feet and saw Dante rushing towards him. _I don't understand these guys... They barely know Kira, and yet they're fighting this hard to protect her... Even though this has nothing to do with them! _He gritted his teeth in anger.

"Why the hell are you trying so hard?" he yelled, blocking Dante's punch with his arms and pushing him back. "This has absolutely nothing to do with you! If anything, burning Kira's book means one less opponent for you to fight! Why are you fighting so hard to protect her?"

_Yeah, why _are_ you trying so hard...?_ Kira thought. Dante looked at Ranjit for a moment.

"My book owner thinks they're people worth protecting," he replied simply. "So that's exactly what we're gonna do."

A look of surprise crossed Ranjit's face, as well as Kira's.

"People worth protecting...?" Ranjit muttered. His expression changed to one of anger. "_People worth protecting? Are you kidding me? _Kira is one of the weakest mamodo in the Tournament! She's lower than the worst scum of the earth! I don't even understand how she was selected! She's just a loud mouth who can't back up any of her words with power! _HOW THE HELL IS THAT WORTH PROTECTING?_" He shot at Dante, fists raised.

"Gran Doruk!" Kaera yelled, and rock armour covered Ranjit's head, torso and arms. He smashed his fist into Dante, who crossed his arms in front of him for protection, but although Dante skidded back a few feet, no matter how hard Ranjit pushed, he couldn't knock Dante back. His eyes widened in shock.

_What the hell...? _he thought.

"Even if... that was true... my book owner... thinks that Kira... and her book owner... are good people," Dante grunted. "And by that logic... they're worth protecting... with all of my power... from someone like you."

Ranjit just stared at Dante for a moment. Suddenly he cracked up.

"Pfffft-HAHAHAHAHAHA!" he cackled. "'People like you'? What the hell is that supposed to mean? You know absolutely nothing about me! And obviously you know nothing about Kira and her partner as well! 'Good people'? DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!" He drew his fist back and swung his arm across, smashing it into Dante's side, and Dante was knocked violently off his feet and embedded into the wall to the right. "Why the hell do you think I came here? To recruit them for my team, you imbecile!" He pointed his palm to the wall as Kaera's book glowed.

"OruClay Sharon!" Kaera chanted, and clay erupted from the wall around Dante and closed around him, holding him to the wall.

"Dante!" Nat yelled.

"And _you!_" Ranjit continued, turning towards Nat. "Your mamodo keeps talking for you! Why don't you say what you think yourself?" A fierce scowl crossed Nat's face.

"I would just be repeating what Dante said," he replied.

A rage vein popped up on Ranjit's head. "So you're just as dumb as him, then!"

"Grandbao!"

Ranjit slammed his hand onto the ground, and the area around Nat exploded. He was thrown sideways, leaving the alley exposed.

"Ah! Nat!" Dante yelled, and struggled to get free. Nat landed a few feet away, and slowly started to get to his feet.

"Do you know the reason I so desperately want weaklings like Kira and Jo to join my team?" Ranjit continued. "It's because of their track record. Those two are pyromaniacs – they burn something up everywhere they go! They set fire to buildings, they set fire to parks, they even set _people_ on fire! It's obvious that those two hate humans with a passion! They delight in the suffering of pathetic beings like humans! And why shouldn't they? Humans are utterly useless! They do nothing but get in the way! Humans don't deserve to live! And they see that! These two that you're protecting so desperately – they're exactly the same as I am! That's the kind of people that our team needs!" Suddenly, he spotted Kira with Jo on her back in the alley entrance. "Heh, speak of the devils themselves!"

_Shit! _Kira mentally exclaimed. She started to run, but clay bubbled up from under her and wrapped around her feet. _What the...!_

"And where do you think _you're _going?" Ranjit snapped. "This whole mess is your fault! Did you think you'd just get away scot free? Well, guess again!"

"Crag Grandsen!" Ranjit shot several large shards of earth at Kira. Her eyes widened, and she struggled to get free of the clay, but the harder she struggled, the tighter it held her, and it started climbing up her legs. Tears of despair streamed down her face, and she squeezed her eyes shut as the shards flew at her.

Several dull thuds sounded out into the air.

Kira flinched, and then noticed that she didn't feel any pain. She opened her eyes to see Nat standing in front of her, arms spread protectively. He was heavily damaged from the attack, with wounds all over his body, and was bleeding in several places. Kira's eyes widened.

_He..._

"Leave them alone," Nat growled. "They don't belong in this battle."

Dante, Ranjit and Kaera stared at him in shock. Then Ranjit burst out laughing.

"BHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HOW MUCH OF AN IDIOT CAN YOU BE!" he roared. "WERE YOU NOT LISTENING TO A WORD I JUST SAID?"

"I heard what you said," Nat replied. "But I disagreed with every word that came out of your mouth."

"Are you really that stupid?" Ranjit yelled. "Do you think I'm lying? How do you think they got so badly damaged in the first place? They burned a dozen people half to death and got thrashed by another team!"

"I know," Nat said. "We were the ones that stopped them."

Ranjit's eyes widened.

"So you know that I'm telling the truth?" he exclaimed. "And you still persist with your idiotic belief? You still think that they're 'good people? YOU BARELY EVEN KNOW THEM! I'VE KNOWN KIRA FAR LONGER THAN YOU!"

"Then you should know that there's no way she would ever join your team," Nat said. "I checked the people that she attacked. The burns she inflicted looked far worse than they actually were. Kira and Jo must have known that. They weren't attacking with the intent to cause really serious harm!"

"That doesn't change the fact that they burned those people to the degree of needing serious medical attention!"

"They had a good reason!" Nat retorted fiercely. He remembered the look in Jo's eyes as she swore that she wouldn't let the book burn. "_A reason that someone like you could never understand!_"

Ranjit looked taken aback by this reply.

"Do you even understand what they've been through?" Nat yelled. "Do you understand the pain they've suffered? The feeling of being shunned and despised for no good reason? _Of course not! You could never understand!_ You're only interested in hurting others because you can! You couldn't possibly see any other reason for what they did, could you?" Tears started streaming down Kira's face. "Of _course_ I can see what they did wasn't right! I'm not blind! But I still didn't burn their book! And do you know why? They only do things like that to protect themselves! They _need_ each other! Kira HAS to stay here in the human world, because neither of them has anyone else! They have only each other! _And I won't let you or anyone else take that away from them!_" The book in his hand shined brightly.

"BULLSHIT!" Ranjit screamed. "COMPLETE BULLSHIT! THERE'S NO WAY ANYONE COULD DO THINGS LIKE THAT FOR ANY OTHER REASON THAN BECAUSE THEY WANT TO, YOU IDIOT!"

He shot towards Nat, an armour-clad fist raised. But just before he reached Nat, he was intercepted.

"The only idiot here is _you_."

Ranjit stared in shock at Dante, who had his arms crossed in front of him. Rage spread on his face.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" he roared, and brought his fist down upon Dante. Dante caught his punch and smashed a fist into the side of Ranjit's face, sending him flying back.

"I understand now..." Dante muttered. "I understand why we're protecting them... Let's send this guy back where he belongs!"

"Yeah!" Nat said. The book started shining even more brightly.

Ranjit slowly got up, gritting his teeth.

"I don't care anymore..." he muttered. "Kaera."

Kaera nodded and her book started glowing like crazy.

"If that's the way it is..." he continued. An expression of pure rage came onto his face. "I'LL JUST KILL ALL OF YOU!"

"GROUNDGA COBRA!"

Ranjit slammed his hands on the ground, and a gigantic cobra of earth erupted from the ground and came towards Nat, Dante, Kira and Jo. Dante aimed at the snake as it approached, and nine stars appeared around them.

"EXCELLES FARGA!"

The large X-shape was formed, and the huge bolt of light shot from it and obliterated the snake. The bolt flew at Ranjit and Kaera.

"No..." Ranjit whispered. "NO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"

The bolt swallowed him up, and Kaera dove to the side as the bolt flew past. The book in her hands suddenly burst into flame, and she dropped it in shock.

"RANJIT!" she cried, and rushed towards Ranjit's fading figure.

"No..." he muttered. He disappeared as Kaera reached him, and she stopped in her tracks. She looked at Nat and Dante in fear and took off.

"Heh..." Nat muttered. "We beat him... You guys... are safe..."

He collapsed, still clutching the book. Dante caught him before he hit the ground and carried him on his back.

"Good work... Dante..." Nat muttered. "Now we just have to... get Jo to the hospital..."

Then he fainted. Dante looked at him with a worried expression for a moment, and then turned to Kira, who was in a daze.

"You heard him," he said, snapping Kira out of it. "We have to get to the nearest hospital! Come on!" He started off, but Kira pulled him back.

"You're going the wrong way, dumbass," she muttered. "It's this way."

"But that's the way out to the road –"

He stopped when he saw the expression on Kira's face. Tears were streaming from her eyes, and snot was dripping from her nose.

"I'm n-not gonna a-argue w-with you, ok-kay?" she sobbed. "It's th-this way." Dante stared at her in shock. "Now c-come on!" She started off in a different direction. Dante started.

"A-ah, wait up!" he yelled, and hurried after her.

* * *

Jo woke up in a hospital bed. She tried to get up, but a dull pain spiked through her right side every time she moved, and she couldn't move her left arm.

"Oh, you're up."

Jo whipped her head round in surprise to see Nat sitting up in the bed beside her, wrapped in bandages, from what she could see. He let out a chuckle at the shocked expression on her face.

"You should see your face!" he exclaimed. "Priceless." He grinned at her, and she looked back at him, confused.

"What...? Where...? How...?"

"I'll explain later," Nat said. He turned in the opposite direction. "Hey, guys! She's up!"

Jo looked past him to see Dante and Kira sitting in chairs beside Nat's bed, sleeping. The two mamodo children stirred and looked around them, then noticed that Jo was awake.

"JO!" Kira yelled. She jumped over Nat's bed and rushed to Jo's side. "You're okay!" She flung her arms around Jo and hugged her tightly. "Why'd you take so long to wake up, dumbass? I was worried sick!" Jo let out a small laugh.

"I'm fine, Kira," she replied, smiling. A serious expression crossed her face, and she dropped her voice to a whisper. "But what are they doing here?"

"What else would they be doing at a hospital?" Kira deadpanned.

"That's not what I meant..."

Kira grinned. "I'll tell you later. Just know that we can trust these guys." She beamed, and Jo was taken aback by the happy expression on her face.

"It's great that you're up now!" Dante said, grinning. "But Kira, should you really be hanging off of her like that?"

"Shut up," Kira replied, and stuck out her tongue. "I was really worried."

"But she's still injured..."

"She'll be fine!" Kira insisted. Dante sweat dropped, and Nat smiled at the scene. A small smile came onto Jo's face as she watched.

_People we can trust, eh...? _Her smile grew.

_That doesn't sound bad at all._

* * *

In a remote location, a small mamodo sat on a chair, looking bored. Another mamodo came into the room.

"Um, ma'am, Ranjit's book was burned..." he said. The mamodo on the chair regarded him lazily.

"Hmm?" she drawled. "I told him to quit while he was ahead, didn't I?" She shrugged. "Oh, well. We'll just have to get more members to replace him. But how did he get defeated by Kira? I thought she was weak..."

"Well, uh, she had help," the other mamodo said. "A mamodo called Dante, I believe it was..."

"Oh? Dante?" The seated mamodo's eyes widened. "Interesting... Well, back to the matter at hand. We have to get Ranjit's replacement." She jumped off the chair and landed behind her associate, her wings spread.

"Wait, ma'am, what are you doing?" he said, surprised.

"Heh." She grinned, revealing razor-sharp, pointy teeth. "What does it look like?" She walked out of the room, leaving her subordinate confused.

_Hmm. The 'Star Child,' huh? _ A smirk crossed her face. _Things are getting interesting..._

* * *

**YUS! XD Twenty-fourth chapter completed! I hope you liked it! I can't believe I got this done before the end of the month...**

**Thank you to the reviewers of the last chapter: Bren Tenkage(I'll try to get them in ASAP! And thanks!), DeathySophia(thanks! ^_^), thatguy3331(yeah, you better update. :P Thanks for the kind words!), Seto-Yami Lord of Darkness(you ain't alone, buddy. XD), and the mysterious 'just some reader who's kept up'(Duuuuude. :D I'll definitely try my best! And I do have a way to link in some of the older mamodo, but you probably won't expect what I've got in store... *chilling chuckle*), as well as Wowza48(thanks), and CRUMBLEDCANDYWRAPPER! :D (Again, THANK YOU for the mega review, means so much to hear you still enjoy it!) And thanks to all the readers! Seriously, I actually really admire you for struggling through this fic. XD I guarantee you'll be surprised by the next chapter, so please stick around!**

**Signing off till the next update(only God knows when that'll be...), so,**

**Cyaz!**


	25. Level 25: A Slight Detour

The sweltering sun shone down angrily. Amon gritted his teeth and wiped the sweat from his brow.

_After almost losing the battle with that star kid, Dante, it was decided that my reflexes had dulled and needed to be sharpened. Thus it was decided that I needed more intense training. That was what Idelle decided... And that's a decision I can live with... But why..._

He gritted his teeth.

_Why..._

He suddenly stopped what he was doing, and a rage vein popped up on his forehead.

"WHY THE HELL AM I PLOUGHING YOUR FIELDS LIKE AN OX?!"

He had a yoke around his neck, attached to a huge, traditional ox-drawn 10-furrow plough, and had been pulling the plough through the dirt for the past three hours. Idelle, who was lounging on a sunbathing chair in a bikini and sunglasses a few metres away, a cool, tall drink in her right hand, sat up and tilted her shades down slightly.

"What was that, Amon?" she replied. "I thought we agreed that you needed harsher training. Are you already giving up on your dream of becoming King?"

"This and that are two completely different things!" Amon yelled. "In what universe could this ever be considered training?! You're just using me like an animal to take care your farmland because you can't be bothered to hire someone!"

"Is that so?" Idelle said. "Well, then. Would you like to get back to the actual training I had planned for you?"

Amon's eyes widened. "Ah." The hellish training that Idelle had initially proposed flashed through his mind...

* * *

_Amon stared, aghast, at the hellish training course Idelle had set up for him. _

_First, a trench 2 kilometres long, filled with deadly, man-eating bugs, whose bite alone could immobilise an ox with the pain. Barely 10 metres in were 10 sets of viciously spiked compactor plates that slammed together every five seconds, following which was 50 metres of barbed wire across the top of the trench, so one would have to crawl through the trench to get through. After this was a long stretch where the ceiling, dotted with large spikes, started quickly coming down on you, so that one would be horribly crushed unless they managed to get past fast enough. The last stretch was dotted with land mines hidden among the bugs, each of which would explode immediately on contact, with enough power to take out half the room, setting off a chain reaction with the rest of them. _

_If one managed to survive the trench, they then came to the foot of a 50m high wall dotted with spikes, pressure bombs and landslides waiting to happen, which had to be climbed. Upon reaching the top, one then had to walk across a 'tightrope' made of razor-sharp wire which went on for another kilometre, avoiding volleys of arrows, getting past 5 huge bladed pendulums, past vertical flamethrowers from below, and across a particularly slippery section. If one were to fall off this razor tightrope, they would fall the 50 metres into a deep pit filled with huge spikes, each at least 10 metres high._

_If one managed to actually get across the tightrope without dying, they then faced the final stretch: a large pool of lava mixed with radioactive waste, in which swam dozens of mutant sharks and piranhas. To complete the course, they had to swim through it and reach the other side in less than 2 minutes. Failure to do so, assuming one was still alive after this, would mean that the course had to be started from the beginning._

"_This is the training course...?" Amon squeaked._

"_What? No, don't be silly," Idelle replied. Relief started to spread across Amon's face. _

"_This is just the warm-up course." _

_The relief was shattered instantaneously. Amon whipped his head round and stared at Idelle, a shaky, nervous grin on his face._

"_Y-you're joking, right?" he stammered._

"_Oh, I never joke, Amon." _

"_DON'T SCREW WITH ME!" Amon yelled. "HOW CAN YOU EXPECT ANYONE TO SURVIVE THAT?! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!" Idelle looked blankly at his panicked face, bored. "I thought the idea was to make me stronger, not to get rid of me for good!"_

"_Don't be ridiculous," Idelle said. "No human could come out of this alive, but a mamodo won't die from something like this."_

"_There's a limit to how much punishment even a mamodo can take!" Amon yelled. "Mamodo aren't indestructible, you know! And we DO feel pain! I mean, I know that gain without pain is worthless, but this is __**ridiculous!**__"_

"_Have you already forgotten your original goal, then?"_

_Amon's eyes widened. _

"_Do you not remember what you told me when we first met?" Idelle continued. "You told me that you wanted to become the King at all cost. That you would do absolutely anything if it meant you could become King. Isn't that right?"_

_Amon looked down at the floor, silent._

_{Yeah, I remember,} he thought. {Of course I remember! How could I forget? Becoming King is my sole objective. But...} A shadow came across his face, and a near- comical frown stretched it down. {But even if you say that... This is way too much to take on! But I want to be King, don't I? But I have to be alive in the first place to be King, don't I? But anyone who could get through this would definitely get much better reflexes! But that doesn't mean I can make it out alive...!}_

_Idelle regarded Amon as he struggled with himself. _

"_Well..." Amon's mental debate halted and he looked up at Idelle, who had her hand on her chin and a thoughtful expression on her face. "You _could_ always plough the fields instead..."_

"_SOLD!" Amon's reply was immediate, his hand raised up like an auctioneer at a sale. Idelle looked at him in surprise. "I'LL TAKE IT!"_

* * *

"Well?"

Idelle's prompt pulled Amon back to the present. He looked over to see her giving him an expectant look. He gritted his teeth and several veins popped up on his forehead.

"Like hell I'd do that!" he snapped, racing off across the field and heaving the plough along with him. Idelle shook her head, put her shades back on and reclined on the chair.

_I may just be a cheap alternative to hiring a proper farmer, _he thought, _but compared to that Demon Course from Hell, this is a cakewalk!_

* * *

Some distance away, two figures stood on the edge of the huge Debussy estate. One was a large brown ox with three tails. The other was a man in his early thirties, with brown hair and dark eyes, who wore a white shirt, dusty blue overalls and a straw hat.

"So this is the Debussy estate, eh..." he muttered. "The estate of the people who took everything from me..."

"Don't worry, Alex," the ox said. "With my power, you're gonna take it back."

Alex held up the light brown spellbook in his hand. "Yeah. Let's go, Emogona. It's time to reclaim what's rightfully mine."

* * *

Amon pulled the plough along, swearing and cursing Idelle, himself, the plough, the sun, the earth, the Battle, and anything and everything he could think of. Suddenly his eyes widened.

_Hold on a second..._

Idelle sat up and raised her shades as Amon stopped again.

"Oh?" she said. "Have you had enough of being treated like a common beast?"

"No, it's not that," Amon replied. "There's a mamodo heading this way."

Idelle raised an eyebrow and put down her tall, cool drink. "How far away are they?"

"About a few hundred metres. They should reach the centre of the field in about half an hour."

"Hm." Idelle picked up her brown robe and the striped spellbook from beside the sunbathing chair and stood up. "In that case, let us go and welcome them."

* * *

Amon and Idelle, who was now wrapped up in her robe, waited in the centre of the field and watched the other mamodo team approach. Within a few minutes Alex and Emogona stopped a few feet in front of them.

"I want to see the owner of this estate," Alex said. "Do you know where I can find her?"

"You are speaking to her," Idelle said. Alex's eyes widened.

"You're Idelle Debussy?"

"Yes, that would be me. What business do you have with me?"

"You stole my land!" Alex yelled. "And I'm here to take it back!"

"Stole land?" Idelle inquired. "How insolent. I have done no such thing."

"The Debussys bought up all my family's land, and now we're dirt-poor!" Alex retorted. "I came here to take back the land that rightfully belongs to my family! And since you inherited the Debussy fortune, you're the one who can return it to me!"

Idelle sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. _Another troublesome person's appeared because of Mother's inconsideration… _

"I apologise for what you have gone through," she said, "but unfortunately I cannot just return your land."

"Wh-what?" Alex's confidence wavered for a moment. "Why not?"

"It is not as simple as just getting your land back; the process is quite complicated, and because we are talking about a transaction that occurred a long time ago, it would be near impossible to complete… I _can_ offer you another plot of land -"

"I don't WANT another plot of land!" Alex yelled. "That land has been in my family for generations! You can't just _replace_ it with any old plot you have lying around!"

"I just told you, that is impossible. The legalities _alone_ -"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANY OF THAT!" Alex roared. "I came here to get my family's land back, and by George, that's what I'm gonna do. If you won't give it to me, I'll take it by force!" The spellbook in his hand glowed brightly. Idelle's eyebrows went up.

"Doruk!"

Emogona's head and torso were covered in rock armour, and he shot at Idelle with surprising speed. Idelle simply looked at Emogona as he approached, showing no signs of attempting to move out of the way.

_Ha!_ Alex thought, grinning. _The old hag's gonna get mowed down!_

However, before Emogona could get even halfway to her, he was intercepted. He stared up in shock at Amon, who was holding him back with his left hand and regarding him with a bored expression. Amon drew back his right fist and smashed it into Emogona's skull, sending him flying back. He landed hard in front of Alex, who was staring at Amon in shock.

"Fool," Amon muttered. "Did you think it would be that easy?"

"Wait, you have a mamodo as well?!" Alex exclaimed, as Emogona shakily got up.

"I was under the impression that you were here to challenge us," Idelle said. "It seems that I was mistaken. However, as you have attacked with the intent of harming me, I am afraid we cannot simply let you go." She raised her spellbook, which started glowing. "Amon."

Amon nodded and shot forward.

"Ah! Emogona!" Alex yelled. Emogona charged at Amon, head lowered. Amon sidestepped his charge and slammed an uppercut into Emogona's unprotected belly, knocking him high up and making him cough up blood, and continued on towards Alex. Alex ducked under his swipe and jumped to the left.

"Baberu," Idelle chanted. Amon formed the triangle sign and fired the triangular beam at Alex, but Emogona charged in and blocked it with his body at the last second. Alex stared at Amon, terrified.

"You… You just tried to kill me…" Alex muttered. A look of mixed terror and rage came onto his face. "YOU JUST TRIED TO KILL ME!" The book in his hand glowed brightly.

"Hm?" Amon raised an eyebrow.

"ZEDORUK!" Alex shrieked, and the rock armour on Emogona glowed and hardened greatly. Emogona charged at Amon with even greater speed.

"Baberu!" Idelle chanted, and Amon fired the triangular beam. However, it had no effect on Emogona's armour. Amon's eyes widened.

"Shit!" he muttered, and crossed his arms in front of him as Emogona slammed into him. The force of the impact sent him flying back. He flipped in midair and landed on his feet, and looked up to see Emogona almost in front of him.

"IDELLE!" he yelled, putting out his palm at Emogona. Idelle nodded and her book glowed brightly.

"Shurido!" Amon fired the large white square at point-blank range, and it smashed into Emogona, pushing him back a bit. Emogona recovered immediately and charged at Amon again.

"The hell?!" Amon exclaimed. He dived to the side, and Emogona shot past him. Amon wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth as Emogona realised that he had missed and screeched to a halt.

_He's not even fazed…?_

Emogona turned around and charged at Amon again, and Amon leaped up over him, so that he found himself charging towards Alex. Amon pointed a V-sign at Emogona's retreating figure.

"Baberuga!" Idelle chanted, and Amon fired a very thin triangular beam that rapidly expanded outwards, so that it was almost twice as large as Shurido when it reached Alex and Emogona.

"HOLY SHIT!" Alex yelled. He grabbed onto Emogona's horn as he shot past. "MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" Emogona quickly sped up and turned to the right, and the two just about managed to dodge it. Emogona changed direction, and the two charged towards Idelle.

"Tch!" Amon rushed forward to intercept the ox, and he got in front of Idelle just before Emogona reached her. Idelle dived out of the way as Emogona slammed into Amon with enough force to demolish an industrial steel wall, sending Amon skidding backwards.

Amon screeched to a halt and rushed at Emogona, fists raised. He slammed a fist into Emogona's side, pushing him back a bit, and then followed up with a roundhouse kick which sent Emogona hurtling back. Alex and Emogona landed hard on the ground a few metres away and slowly got up, and Idelle backed up quickly, putting some distance between herself and Amon.

"This is getting annoying…" Amon muttered. He pointed the V-sign at Alex and Emogona, and Alex's eyes went wide.

_Is he going to use that attack again…?_ Alex thought, terrified.

"NO!" he screeched, and his book started glowing very brightly. "I WON'T LET YOU!"

Amon's eyes widened. _Shit…!_

"Idelle!" he yelled.

"Baberuga!" The rapidly expanding beam shot from Amon's fingers, heading straight for Emogona.

"ZEODORUK!" Emogona was covered in metal armour with spikes jutting out of the shoulders. He shot forward and ploughed through the beam with no effort. He charged at Amon at alarming speed, and Amon quickly put his arms forward.

"Shurishirudo!" Idelle chanted, and a large white square shield appeared in front of Amon. Emogona smashed through it, and the force of the impact sent Amon flying back. He landed hard on the ground and skidded back a few metres.

"HA!" Alex yelled. "TAKE THAT! AGAIN, EMOGONA!" Emogona charged forward.

Amon slowly got up again. However, Emogona slammed into him with the force of a ten-ton truck as soon as he got to his feet, sending him flying back even further. Amon landed hard, and Emogona slammed into him again, before he could even get up on one knee, smashing him back even further. Emogona followed him and slammed into him once again as he fell, just before he hit the ground, and he was knocked back further still. He hit the ground hard, bruised and covered with blood, and this time he didn't get up.

"Amon!" Idelle cried. Alex laughed triumphantly.

"HA! HAHAHAHA!" he roared. "NOW YOU'RE DONE FOR! FINISH HIM, EMOGONA!" The ox charged at Amon's unmoving figure.

"Amon! Get up!" Idelle yelled. Amon stayed still. "GET UP!"

… _I can't,_ Amon thought. _No matter how hard I try, I can't move… And even if I could, what would I do? None of my spells will have any effect on him… and I can't even block his charge… What purpose would getting up serve? I'm done for…_

"AMON!" Idelle yelled. "Are you really just going to give up?! Have you already forgotten your dream?! Aren't you the same person who told me he would be the King, no matter what?! ANSWER ME!"

Amon's eyes widened.

"If you cannot even survive against an ox, how are you supposed to become the King?! If you are no better than a lowly ox, how could you ever become King?! Do you think that single ox would be able to pull that giant plough across the fields?! The plough that you have been pulling along like it was weightless, the plough that takes at least ten oxen to pull?! Or are you really no better than a lowly farm beast?!"

"What the hell are you saying…?"

Amon got to his feet just before Emogona slammed into him with the force of a megaton truck. However, Amon didn't budge an inch.

"Don't make me laugh," he muttered. "I'm far better than any dumb beast!" Emogona's eyes went wide, and Alex stared in shock.

_That's right… Some dumb animal can't defeat me. The King of the Mamodo World could never be so laughably weak!_

"How!?" Emogona exclaimed. A toothy grin crossed Amon's face.

"I just realised something," he replied. "The gigantic plough I've been pulling across these fields for two weeks straight…"His grin grew. "… IS FAR HEAVIER THAN YOU ARE!"

He tossed Emogona high up into the sky, formed the triangle sign and aimed. "IDELLE!" Idelle's book glowed brightly.

"GIGANO BABERU!"

A triangular beam three times as large as Shurido shot from Amon's hands and engulfed Emogona, completely obliterating his armour.

_No matter what, I will definitely become the King!_

Amon brought his hands down sharply.

_No matter what…_

The huge triangular beam came flying down at Alex, whose eyes went wide.

_NO MATTER WHAT!_

The beam slammed into the ground just in front of Alex, and the force sent him flying back. His book flew through the air, and Amon aimed at it.

"BABERU!"

The triangular beam shot out of Amon's fingers and went cleanly through the book, which immediately burst into flame. Alex hit the floor and slowly got to his feet, and then spotted the burning book a few metres away. His eyes went wide, and he turned and fled.

"Tch," Amon exhaled. "Fool. I could never be beaten by a… dumb animal…"

He collapsed where he stood. Idelle walked up to him and looked down at his unconscious form, and a tiny smile spread on her face.

* * *

Cold water splashed onto Amon's face, and his eyes snapped open. He looked up to see Idelle, in her bikini again, standing over him with a now empty bucket.

"Are you done sleeping yet?" she asked flatly. Amon blinked. "If you are, then please get back to your training." She pointed at the plough. Amon sat up slowly and looked at the ground for a moment, silent.

"Amon?"

"Hey…" Amon suddenly muttered. "When can I start the proper training?" Idelle raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Why the sudden change of heart?" she inquired.

"I have to become King, no matter what the cost," Amon said. "Even if it means dying. Because becoming the King is a goal that I would die for."

Idelle stayed silent for a moment.

"Hmph," she exhaled. "That is all well and good, but at your current level, you would never get through that course. I suppose I will have to make it slightly less difficult."

Amon looked up at her, surprised. His eyes narrowed.

"You were never going to make me do that course, were you…?" he muttered.

"If you are so weak that you would struggle to beat a mere farm animal, you would die several times over before you could ever even attempt to get through it. So we will start with something simpler and work towards that." Idelle turned away and looked towards the field. "However, the soil is not fully tilled yet, so you must finish ploughing the field first."

Amon stared at Idelle in disbelief. A rage vein popped up on his forehead.

"I KNEW IT!" he yelled, sitting up and pointing at Idelle accusingly. "I KNEW I WAS JUST BEING USED!"

"I never said otherwise," Idelle replied. "You were the one who labelled it as training. Now get back to work. The sooner you finish, the sooner we can get started on your training." She returned to her sunbathing chair. Amon stared at her in disbelief for a moment, and then slowly got to his feet, muttering something foul under his breath, and walked grudgingly back to the plough. Idelle watched as he put on the yoke and dashed across the field.

_Ah, the energy of youth,_ she thought. A tiny smile came onto her face again, which she concealed with her drink._ What's this…? I seem to be smiling more and more recently… Does it have something to do with Amon, I wonder…? _She took a swig from her drink and watched Amon again.

… _Do not worry, Amon. I will mould you into a person worthy of the title of King, no matter what. You have my word._

* * *

**Twenty-fifth chapter done! Hope you liked it! I thought you guys might want to see what these two are up to. Or maybe not. XD Well, too bad! You're getting it anyway. :P**

**A hearty thanks goes out to the reviewers of the last chapter - Bren Tenkage(unuu! I promise you won't have to wait too long!), DeathySophia(she sent me her thoughts via PM. It counts, dammit. :P Thanks!), Seto-Yami Lord of Darkness(sure! *hands over Ranjit*), ****thatguy3331(thank you! :D), shadowdawg96(thanks!), the mysterious 'just some reader who's kept up'(thanks, man! I try. XD Bet you didn't expect this, though.), and Wowza48(well, thank you! Reading that made my day. :D)! And thanks to all the readers! Because you matter, dammit. :D Hope you all like the story so far!**

**I seem to just be churning out the chaps recently. XD Do not get used to my alarming update speed. I assure you, the story is still on semi-hiatus. In fact, if anything, this gives me leeway, so I would advise you not expect new chapters for at least two months. (And now that I've said that, I'll probably get another up before next month. -_-) Especially since I have exams coming up, which I MUST study for, as well as coursework and everything else...**

**Mamodo team debut: Alex and Emogona**

**Submitted by: Bren Tenkage**

**Well, with all that said (and you all probably hating me for this chapter, trolololol),**

**Cyaz!**

* * *

OMAKE!

Amon glanced at Idelle, lying in her sunbathing chair, as he pulled the plough.

_You know... Even though she scowls all the time... she actually has quite a youthful body..._ he thought. A small blush came onto his face.

"... I appreciate that you can admire the finer things in life," Idelle said, "but would you stop lusting after my body long enough to finish ploughing the field?"

Amon's face went bright red.

"L-LIKE HELL I'D LUST AFTER AN OLD HAG'S BODY!" he retorted, rage veins popping all over his forehead.


	26. Level 26: Catching Up

Dante stared closely at Nat's sleeping face, bored out of his mind.

"Nat," he said. "Nat, wake up." When Nat didn't respond, Dante started poking him.

"Hey." Poke. "Wake up." Poke. "Hey, wake up." Poke, poke. "Nat, wake up." Poke, poke, poke. "Nat." Nudge. "Naaaat." Shove. "Naaaaaat." Dante took a hold of Nat's arm and started shaking him vigorously from side to side. "Naaaaaaaaaaaaaat!"

Suddenly, Dante was bonked rather sharply on the head, and he let go of Nat immediately.

"What the hell are you doing to an injured person, dumbass..."

Dante rubbed his head, which now had a bump on it, and turned to see Kira standing behind him, looking slightly irritated.

"I was bored..." Dante replied.

"Well, that isn't his fault, now, is it?" Kira said. "Leave him alone. He and Jo need their rest."

"But..."

"No buts!" Kira pulled Dante away from the side of Nat's bed, spun him around so he was facing the door and pushed him towards it. When Dante looked back at her with big puppy dog eyes, Kira simply waved him off with both hands. "Shoo."

When she was sure Dante had left, Kira turned around and snuck over to the area between Nat's bed and Jo's. She checked both of them to make sure they were properly asleep. When she had satisfied herself, a mischievous grin spread across her face. She dug into her pocket, pulled out a black permanent marker, and leaned over Jo. Uncapping the marker, she carefully brought it down to Jo's face.

"What you're doing is even worse!" Dante exclaimed, standing right behind her. She jumped at the sudden loud sound, and the marker slipped and drew a squiggly line across Jo's face. Kira and Dante stared at Kira's handiwork with comical horrified expressions.

"N-Now see what you've done!" Kira whispered furiously, turning on Dante.

"I didn't do anything!" Dante quietly exclaimed. "You were the one with the marker!"

"If you didn't yell so suddenly –" Kira sighed and turned back to Jo. "Look it doesn't matter who did what. If she sees this when she wakes up, we're _both_ dead!"

"What do you mean, _we_? _You're_ the only one at fault here!"

"That only happened because _you _yelled into my ear, dumbass!"

"Ahem!" They turned to see a nurse standing right behind them, looking down at them crossly. "And just _what_ do you think you're doing to these patients?"

Dante and Kira immediately pointed at each other accusingly. "She/He did it!"

"I don't care who did it! You're _both_ coming with me!" The nurse grabbed at both of them, but the mamodo ducked under her arms and ran past her.

"Run for it!" Kira yelled, and sprinted out of the room, Dante right beside her. The nurse chased after them, but they left her behind in a matter of seconds. They ducked into a room and hid there, pressing themselves against the wall until the nurse ran past. Kira peeked out to make sure she was gone and then leaned back against the wall.

"Phew!" she exhaled, and wiped her brow. "That was close..."

Dante looked up and spotted a clock on the wall opposite – it was almost 2:30.

"Ah!" he exclaimed. "If we don't head down now, we're gonna be late! Come on!" He pulled Kira out into the hallway and the two hurried to the culinary wing of the hospital.

* * *

The two stopped in front of a woman in a hairnet and an apron when they arrived, and she looked down at them.

"Dante and Kira reporting for duty, miss!" Dante said, saluting her.

"Just in time, too," the woman said, glancing at the clock on the wall. She walked away and came back with a pair of aprons and hairnets. "Here you go."

"Ugh, do we always have to wear these?" Kira complained, taking the larger apron and hairnet. "They're really fucking nasty." Dante flinched slightly, then took the other set and quickly put them on.

"Yes, you do," the woman said, choosing to ignore Kira's colourful choice of words. "Now put them on quickly and follow me." She walked off, and the two mamodo followed, Kira grudgingly putting on her hairnet and apron. The woman led them to one of many sinks piled high up with dirty dishes.

"You'll be working here today," the woman informed them, turning to them. "Make sure not to break anything this time." She looked pointedly at Kira, who made a face and held her arms out in a way that said, 'What?'

"Understood," Dante said, nodding. The woman nodded curtly and walked off, and Dante and Kira started on the dishes.

Two days had passed since the battle with Ranjit and since Nat and Jo were brought to the hospital. Because Jo couldn't pay for the treatment given by the hospital, and Nat and Dante's trip didn't cover medical finances, Dante and Kira had volunteered to help out each day to pay back the debt. This usually just involved washing dishes, but they could do anything else within reason. Kira made a point of making sure they were thought of as just normal kids, so that they didn't have to do anything too ridiculous.

"I still don't understand why your free holiday didn't come with medical insurance," Kira grumbled. She was washing today, and Dante was rinsing off the cleaned dishes and cutlery. "Did they think that you wouldn't be injured here or something? Fucking idiots..."

Dante flinched again and sweat-dropped. "W-well, at least we can pay off the debt this way. It's a good thing that Nat and Jo weren't seriously hurt, or we'd be in trouble."

"I guess..." Kira muttered. The two washed in silence for a while.

"... Hey..." Kira said suddenly. Dante looked at her. "I just realised I haven't thanked you guys properly yet for what you did."

"Ah, well, you don't _have_ to –"

"Yes, I do. If it wasn't for you guys, that son of a bitch would have killed Jo, and I wouldn't be here right now. And it's not like you even had to help – we gave you no reason to do so – but you did anyway. So..." She looked down at the dishes. "Thank you."

Dante grinned. "Any time!"

"Hopefully there won't _be_ another time," Kira said flatly. "I'd rather not get beaten almost to death twice, thanks."

"You kinda deserved it for holding back so much..."

"How many times do I have to tell you? We were fighting with our full power! You're just stupidly powerful!"

Dante shook his head. "I just can't believe that. No one could be that weak."

"Fuck's sake..." Kira muttered. Dante flinched again at Kira's swearing, and Kira noticed. She raised an eyebrow.

"You flinch an awful lot whenever I swear," she noticed. "Does it bother you or somethin'?"

"Ah, n-no, it's not that..." Dante replied, sweat-dropping. A smirk came across Kira's face.

"Oh, really?" she said. "So I guess you wouldn't mind if I was to fire off a _fuck_-bomb right now, right?" Dante flinched again.

"W-well, actually –" he hastily replied, but he was too late.

"Fuuuuck, fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck," Kira went, flapping her arms like a chicken. Dante flinched each time she swore.

"K-Kira!"

"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Kira continued, grinning as Dante flinched each time she swore. "Fuck-fuck-fuckity, fuck-fuck-fuckity-fuck!" Dante almost dropped the dish that he was rinsing off multiple times.

"Q-quit it!" he exclaimed. Kira ignored him and continued dropping F-bombs for another half-hour, with Dante pleading for her to stop. It finally stopped when some of the other staff came over and asked her to stop after she started warbling the word to the tune of "Asshole!"

* * *

Jo woke up earlier than Nat for once. She yawned, blinked and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, then glanced over at Nat, who was still asleep. A strangely sad expression crossed her face as she took in all his bandaging.

_To think... He took all that damage because he was protecting us..._ she thought. _I still can't imagine it..._

Suddenly, Nat's eyes opened.

"Oh, good morning, Jo," he greeted. Jo blushed a bit and quickly turned away as Nat yawned and sat up. "Are you just waking up as well?"

"U-um, no," Jo replied, looking down into her lap. "Actually, I woke up a few minutes before."

"Ah," Nat said. "How're you feeling?"

"I'm doing alright, actually. It doesn't hurt that much to move my arm any more, and my side only really hurts if I try to stretch it out as far as I can, which is more than I usually do, anyway," Jo said. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm fine!" Nat replied, grinning. "It's more like a dull ache all over my body now, instead of spikes of pain. So I can move normally without too much trouble."

"That's great!" Jo said, beaming.

"Yeah –" Nat stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the squiggly line across Jo's face. Jo raised an eyebrow at his expression.

"What?"

"Ah, n-nothing," Nat said, quickly turning away in order to stop himself from laughing out loud. Jo frowned.

"Whaaaat?" she prompted, trying to get a glimpse of Nat's face. "What is it?"

"I-it's nothing, really!" Nat blurted out, avoiding Jo's gaze.

"Seriously, Nat, what's wrong?" Jo asked. "Do I have something on my face or what?"

Nat stiffened. Realisation crossed Jo's face.

"Is that it?" she prompted. "I have something on my face, don't I?"

"Well, sort of..." Nat said. He handed her the mirror on the table in between their beds, and she looked in it and saw Kira's handiwork. A low groan escaped her lips.

"_Kira!_" she groaned. Nat let out a chuckle, but went silent when Jo shot him a look.

* * *

In a remote location, the winged mamodo sat in a large study, studying something intently, when her subordinate walked in.

"Um, ma'am?" he said questioningly.

"Sshhh!" the winged mamodo hissed. "I've almost found the location of the place we need to go to next!"

"Oh!" Her subordinate's eyes widened. "Amazing!"

"SSHHHH!" The winged mamodo shushed him again. "I need to concentrate. The answer we've been looking for is right here somewhere... I've almost got it..."

"Oh, well..." her subordinate said quietly. "I just came to tell you that BlackRose went out on a scouting mission, and I was just wondering –"

"Wait, _what?_" The winged mamodo sharply turned around and stared at her subordinate. "What did you just say?"

"U-um, BlackRose went out... on a scouting mission –"

"No!" the winged mamodo yelled. "No, no, _no! _Tell her to come back! Tell her to come back _right now!_"

"B-but she's already in Japan, and she said she found a potential recruit–"

"I don't care! Tell her to come back here right this instant! She has to come back as soon as possible! It's really important that everyone's here, otherwise –" She stopped and let out a low groan. "Aw, DAMMIT!" She slammed her fist down on the table in front of her, breaking it cleanly in half.

"Wh-what happened...?"

"I've lost it! The answer was on the tip of my tongue, _and now I've lost it!_" The winged mamodo's subordinate looked on, slightly terrified. "God damn it, BlackRose!"

"U-um... Can I help somehow...?"

The winged mamodo let out a sigh. "No. Look, just go and get BlackRose back to base." Her subordinate hesitated. "_GO!_" Her subordinate jumped.

"Y-yes, ma'am!" he replied, bowing quickly and rushing out of the room. The winged mamodo held her head in her hands and let out another small groan.

_Why do things always get in the way, damn it all... Well, I guess I just have to start over._

* * *

Back in Japan, Austin and Jiko were sitting in the sandbox in the park, building a sandcastle.

"Jiko! Austin! Come on, time to go!"

The two looked over to the gate to see Kyle standing there. Jiko grinned and waved.

"Hi, Kyle!" she called. She got to her feet and dusted herself off, then turned to Austin. "Come on, Kyle's here to pick us up."

"Awww, but... Sandcastle..." Austin whined.

"We can always finish it later," Jiko said. "As long as Ritchie doesn't kick it down again..."

"Heh." Austin grinned. "Ritchie won't come anywhere near this box if he sees _I've_ been working on it." He got to his feet and dusted off his mantle. "Okay, we'll finish it tomorrow. Let's go."

Jiko nodded, and the two mamodo children walked over to the gate to meet Kyle, who greeted them with a grin.

"Sup, guys!" he said. "That's a pretty cool castle you're building there. You want I should wait so you can finish it?"

"No, it's fine," Jiko said. "We can finish it tomorrow."

"Okay, if you're sure," Kyle said, shrugging. "How're you doing, Austin? Mizuno treating you humanely?"

"Well, actually, he's been better than I thought he would," Austin said. "He's just been sleeping in all week, so he's pretty much just left me alone to do what I want. Of course, that means I won't have anything to do when I get home..."

Jiko suddenly had an idea. "Hey, Austin, do you wanna come over to Kyle's house? We could always drop you off later."

Austin's eyes widened. "Oh, could I do that?" He and Jiko looked up at Kyle, who shrugged.

"Don't see the harm," he said. "I'm sure Mizuno wouldn't mind!"

"Yes!" Austin punched the air, and he and Jiko high-fived.

"Thanks, Kyle!" Jiko squealed, and hugged Kyle's legs.

Kyle grinned. "No problem. Now come on, let's go. It's getting late."

"Yessir!" the two mamodo said, saluting. Kyle chuckled, and the three started off down the street.

"I can't wait to show you all the cool stuff at our house!" Jiko said excitedly, as they walked. "This is gonna be so awesome!"

"Yeah!" Austin grinned. "Can't wait!"

He suddenly froze, eyes widened. Jiko and Kyle stopped and looked back at him, puzzled.

"Um, Austin...?" Jiko called. "Is something wrong?"

Austin snapped out of his trance and shook his head. "N-no, it's nothing." Jiko frowned, but decided to leave the matter.

"Okay, if you say so..." she said. "Well, then, come on!" She and Kyle started off again, and Austin hastily followed.

On a nearby rooftop, a small figure stood and watched Austin as he walked off. It was a cute girl about ten years old, with darkly tanned skin, short red hair styled into pigtails with her bangs parted sideways with a rose hairclip, as well as lines on her face, three for each side, starting at the bottom of her black eyes and running down to her cheekbones. She wore a long, bell-sleeved red shirt under a black, rose-patterned vest, black shorts, and black and red knee-high boots.

"Hmm~," she hummed. "I wonder if you still remember your old friend, Austin... Well, of course he would. How could he forget me, of all people? Will you be happy to see me, I wonder?"

The transmitter in her ear suddenly crackled to life.

'_BlackRose? BlackRose, can you hear me?'_ a voice called.

"Yeah, yeah, I can hear," the girl replied. "What do you want?"

'_Look, you have to come back right now. Ma'am's orders.'_

"Wait, what?" BlackRose cried. "But I'm already tracking the recruit! Gimme five minutes."

'_No, BlackRose, you need to get back here RIGHT NOW. Ma'am is in a bad mood, and you really don't want to make it worse.'_

BlackRose sighed. "FIIIIINE. I get it. I'm on my way." She switched off the transmitter and looked down at Austin, who was now much further down the street.

"Tch," she exhaled. "You got lucky this time, blacky-boy. I'll come after you and your friends some other time." She quickly leaped off the rooftop, onto another one, and started moving in the opposite direction.

* * *

**And just as I predicted... -_- Not even 24 hours has passed, and I've already got out a new chapter. Oh, well. *shrugs* I hope you liked it!**

**Thanks to the people who've reviewed: Seto-Yami Lord of Darkness(XD I think you've knocked him out... Keep him. Now he reeks of mackerel. XP), thatguy3331(I'm reading your story as soon as I can, I promise! And thanks!), Bren Tenkage(you can say that again. XD), and shadowdawg96(you think so? :D)! I realise I'm not being very fair, as I haven't given enough time for everyone else to review, but blame my lack of writer's block. :P Thanks to the readers as well!**

**STILL ON SEMI-HIATUS, DAMMIT. DX Oh, and Asshole! is an actual song. XD It's pretty good. You can listen to it here: new grounds . com /audio/listen/106777(no spaces)**

**Mamodo debut: BlackRose**

**Submitted by: DeathySophia**

**Well, signing off, since the internet's almost dead now, so,**

**Cyaz!**


	27. Level 27: To Be Of Aid

"Come on, guys!"

"Yeah, move your asses!"

Dante and Kira raced ahead and called back to Nat and Jo, who were walking slowly.

"Don't rush us!" Jo complained. "We just got out of the hospital, for goodness' sake..."

Nat chuckled. "They sure are lively, aren't they?"

He, Dante, Jo and Kira were at Yosemite National Park, a large area of great natural beauty. It had been five days since the battle with Ranjit, and Nat and Jo had been released from the hospital the day before. Since Nat and Dante had one day left in America, they had decided to spend their last day sightseeing with Kira and Jo. Nat was wearing a red V-neck T-shirt under a light, open black jacket, blue cargo shorts and brown sandals, and had a few bandages on his arms and legs, and one across his face. Jo, in addition to her normal long-sleeved green shirt, jean capris and brown sandals, was also wearing a brown riding hood and had her arm done up in a cast and sling.

"Well, they should be a little more considerate!" Jo muttered. "I mean, we literally _just_ got out of the hospital!" She raised her cast arm to emphasise her point.

"Hey, cut them a little slack," Nat said. "They've been cooped up in that hospital waiting for us to get better for five days."

"Yeah, I guess... But still!"

Nat shook his head, grinning. "Come on. I'm sure we'd do the same if we were them."

"Speak for yourself! I definitely wouldn't. I would be thoughtful and be considerate and aware of the fact that my partner was still injured."

Kira looked back at Nat and Jo talking, and puffed out her cheeks, a look strikingly similar to envy on her face.

"Ooooooooiiiiii!" she called back impatiently, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Hurry up, slowpokes! I'd like to get somewhere _before_ the end of this century, if you don't mind."

"We're coming!" Jo yelled back. Kira glared at her and turned forward again, arms crossed.

"Um, Kira...?" Dante inquired, puzzled. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh, I'm _fiiine_," Kira replied, her cheeks puffed out again. "Why shouldn't I be? If they wanna stay there and make googly eyes at each other all day, that's their problem. It's none of _my _business if they wanna go off and get married or something. Why should I care?"

Dante sweat-dropped. "What are you talking about...?"

Suddenly an alarm rang through Nat's head. His eyes widened, and he froze.

_Danger? _he thought. Jo looked at him, puzzled.

"What's wrong?" she asked. He put up a hand and concentrated on the alarm.

_This feeling... It's just like the one I got when the bank was robbed, and again when Kira and Jo were being attacked... Someone somewhere is in trouble... But where...?_

Suddenly Dante stopped, eyes wide. Kira walked into him and fell over.

"OW!" she yelped, and rubbed her head. She shot a glare at Dante. "Don't just stop like that, dumbass!"

"Shh!" Dante went. Kira looked at him indignantly. "Listen. Do you hear that?"

Kira went silent and listened carefully.

"_... HEEEEEELP! HEEEEEEEEELP!"_

Kira's eyes snapped open. "Yeah... Someone's screaming their ass off. Sounds like they're in trouble."

"Exactly! We have to go help!" Dante took off in the direction the sound was coming from, and with a start Kira hastily followed.

"Come on, you guys!" Dante yelled back urgently.

"Wait, where are you going?" Jo yelled. She turned to Nat. "What's going on?"

"Can't explain now," Nat said. "We have to follow them! Come on!" He ran off in the direction Dante and Kira had gone.

"Ah, w-wait up!" Jo yelled, and rushed after him.

* * *

A man was hanging off the edge of a cliff, holding on for dear life. He was about 23 years old, with short brown hair and dark eyes. He was dressed in a black tuxedo with black dress pants, black Oxfords and a monocle.

"HEEEEEEEELP! HEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" he yelled. A small girl of about seven years was crouching on the top of the cliff and trying to pull him up. She had long wavy blonde hair and blue eyes, and wore a green dress with a musical note on the front. She heaved with all her might, but she was unable to pull him to safety.

Dante and Kira arrived at the base of the cliff, followed shortly by Nat and Jo. They looked up to see the gentleman gripping onto the edge of the cliff. Upon seeing his predicament, Kira cracked up.

"Pfffffthahahahahaha!" she went, bending over and clutching her sides. "Oh, my God, he looks so stupid! How the hell did that happen?"

"This isn't funny..." Nat muttered, sweat dropping. He looked up again. _Crap, this is bad. Unless we do something quick, he's going to fall!_

"Oh, no, he's not!" Dante exclaimed. He slammed a foot into the base of the cliff and started running up the cliff face at incredible speed. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

"Djem... I don't think I can hold on...!" the gentleman muttered. He slipped down a bit, and Djem's eyes widened. "Let go!" Djem vigorously shook her head and pulled with more effort, to no avail. The gentleman slipped again and then lost his grip on the cliff edge, and he plummeted down, pulling Djem with him.

"Dante!" Nat yelled.

"URAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Dante rushed up to them, and caught hold of them both before they had fallen a quarter of the way down. He turned around without stopping and rushed back down the cliff face.

"Yes!" Nat went, punching the air. Kira let out a small moan of disappointment.

"UWAAAAAAAHH!" the gentleman yelped. Djem's eyes were wide in alarm.

"HAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Dante yelled. The three reached the ground safely, and Dante set the gentleman and Djem down on the floor. They panted for a while, catching their breath. Eventually, the man let out a relieved sigh and sat up.

"Thank you!" he said breathlessly. "You saved us from certain death."

Dante grinned down at him. "No problem! It's lucky we heard you when we did!"

"That it was," the gentleman said, and got to his feet, as did Djem. "Allow us to introduce ourselves. I am Sir Isaac Odeir, and this is Djem." He gestured to Djem, who curtsied.

"Wait, sir?" Dante said. "So you're a knight?"

"Of a sort," Sir Isaac said. "I don't have a fancy suit of armour or a lance or a steed, but I was given the great honour of being knighted by Her Majesty."

"Cooool!" Dante went, eyes filled with admiration. Kira snorted.

"Bullshit," she said. "There's no such thing as a 'Her Majesty' in the US."

"Oh, I'm from the United Kingdom," Isaac explained. Jo raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Djem and I came here to see the sights."

_Ah, so that's why his voice sounds so... British..._ Nat thought.

"Nice," he said. "Well, my name's Nat, and this is Dante..." He gestured towards Dante, who saluted. "And these two are Kira and Jo." He gestured to Kira, who crossed her arms, and Jo, who nodded curtly.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Isaac said, bowing. Kira rolled her eyes.

"So how exactly did you end up like that?" Jo asked.

"Yeah, did you lose a duel or somethin'?" Kira asked.

"Well, actually, we were just standing on the edge, appreciating the view, when a particularly strong wind knocked me off balance and over the edge." Isaac let out a chuckle. "Talk about bad luck, eh? Although it was certainly very lucky that you came along when you did." He looked closely at Dante and Jo. "Say... would you two mind telling me the colour of your spellbooks?"

A look of shock crossed Dante's and Kira's faces.

"You look surprised," Isaac noted. "I suppose you must be puzzled as to how I know of the Mamodo Battle. Well, you see, Djem here is a mamodo as well." Djem nodded. Alarm flashed across Kira's and Jo's faces, and Jo whipped out her book.

"Oh, no, there's no need for that," Sir Isaac said, waving her off. "We would rather not battle, if that's alright. We generally don't attack unless attacked." The two looked at him suspiciously, but Jo slowly put her book away.

"If you make _one_ move –" Kira growled threateningly. Isaac raised a hand.

"Knight's honour," he said, grinning. "Now, back to the matter at hand. I must repay you somehow for saving us."

"Oh, it was nothing, really!" Dante said.

"If it wasn't for you, I would most likely be dead right now," Isaac replied. "My life is not something that can be taken so lightly." He pulled a card out of his breast pocket and handed it to Nat. "My card."

Nat looked down at the card and his eyes went wide. "Golden Sun Charities?" Kira and Jo went wide eyed as well.

"I run a small group dedicated to supporting the less fortunate," Isaac explained.

"Small?" Nat exclaimed. "Your company's work has helped millions of people all around the world! It's the most successful charity group in the world!"

"Ah, so you've heard of us."

"Heard of you? I've followed your work since I was ten!" Nat said excitedly. "Becoming a member has been a dream of mine ever since I was little!"

Isaac grinned. "That's great to hear, my boy! Consider it done!" A huge grin crossed Nat's face. "And if you need anything else, anything at all, don't hesitate to tell me."

"Oh, that's _more_ than enough..."

Jo and Kira gave Nat and Dante odd looks as the two talked with Sir Isaac.

_How can they be so relaxed and at ease with a potential enemy...? _Jo thought.

After their conversation had been going on for some time, Djem tugged on Sir Isaac's coattails. He looked down questioningly to see her pointing at her wrist.

"Ah," he went. He turned back to Nat and Dante. "I'm terribly sorry, but I'm afraid we must be on our way. Djem doesn't like staying still for long, you see."

Nat nodded. "I understand. It was nice meeting you."

"And you as well," Isaac replied. "Thank you again for saving us. I am indebted to you. Don't forget, if you need anything, do keep in touch. Farewell!" Djem started pulling on his arm, and they two went on their way. Nat and Dante waved as they got farther away.

"Bye, Sir Isaac!" Dante called. Kira and Jo simply stared after them as they disappeared from sight. Nat turned to the others and nodded.

"We better get moving too," he said. The other three nodded, and the group was on their way again, albeit a bit more slowly since Kira and Dante weren't running off again.

"Dante," Kira said, after they had been walking a while. Dante looked up at her.

"Hm?"

"Why did you do that?" she asked. Dante gave her a puzzled look.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Y'know, saving that guy," Kira said, referring to Sir Isaac. "I mean, sure, he had money coming out his ass, but you guys didn't know that, right?" Dante shook his head. "So why'd you do it? I mean, it's not like you were the one who pushed him off, right? It was his problem, so he should have dealt with it himself."

Dante sweat dropped. "That's a bit... unreasonable..."

"Unreasonable to you, maybe, but that guy was a book owner. If you hadn't saved him, you probably would have had one less enemy to worry about."

Dante stared at her for a moment. "Not everyone has to be an enemy, y'know."

"Yeah," Nat said. "If that was the case, we might as well have left you and Jo at Ranjit's mercy, Kira."

"Oi, no one asked you," Kira said, and stuck her tongue out at Nat. "But speaking of which, that's another thing I don't get. I mean, it's not like we're not eternally grateful and all that shit, but we gave you no reason to help us; more like the exact opposite. So why did you?"

"Actually, I want to know that too," Jo said. Nat let out a sigh.

"I thought we'd gone through this," he said.

"I still can't understand why you'd willingly help complete strangers, especially when those strangers could, and were actually trying, to burn your book," Jo said. "I get your reason for wanting to beat Ranjit, but why were you so compelled to help us even after what we did?"

Nat and Dante exchanged a look, and then shrugged.

"Because you needed help," Nat replied. A look of surprise crossed Kira's and Jo's faces, and Kira raised an eyebrow.

_What the hell kinda reason is that? _she thought. _It's not like it was your problem..._

"Why do we need a reason?" Dante said, putting his hands on the back of his head, as if reading Kira's mind. "It doesn't have to be our problem before we can do anything. If we can help someone who needs it, then we will."

"Exactly," Nat said, nodding. "You guys probably don't know this, but helping people..." A grin spread on his face. "...feels really good."

Surprise crossed Kira's and Jo's faces yet again as they looked at Nat's happy expression. Kira just shook her head.

_I don't get you guys..._

"Putting that aside..." Nat continued, looking up at the sky. "If we don't hurry, we won't get to see any of the sights. Come on!" He suddenly took off, and Dante, Kira and Jo hastily followed.

* * *

The rest of the day more or less went off without a hitch. The four of them – Nat, Dante, Kira and Jo – managed to get around to seeing quite a bit of what the US had to offer – they took pictures in front of The Statue of Liberty, jetpacked over Crater Lake and then across Niagara Falls, had a Fast Lane tour of the White House, and got another jetpack ride across the Grand Canyon. They also managed to squeeze in visits to a roller coaster park and the National Museum of American History. Kira would have been quite happy to just stay at the roller coaster park for the rest of the day, but since it was 3 to 1, she had to settle for one extra ride and then being dragged along to the Museum for a 30-minute visit, grumbling and swearing all the while. All too soon, however, it was time to head back.

Throughout the day, Nat's and Dante's words had weighed rather heavily on Kira's and Jo's minds. Try as they did, they just couldn't understand why Nat and Dante said what they had. As the two teams parted ways at the end of the day, the question on both Kira's and Jo's mind remained: Why?

* * *

The next day, as they had promised to do, Kira and Jo came to help Nat and Dante with their stuff and to see them off. The four arrived at the American International Terminal in good time and made their way to the check-in counters for the return trip to Japan. They got checked in relatively quickly and all sat in the waiting area; they had a few minutes before the pads were all charged up. Now came the part that everyone had been secretly dreading: the time to exchange farewells. Nat was the first to speak up.

"Well, this is goodbye, I guess," he said, not too happily. Kira and Jo nodded.

"You better not forget us," Kira said sternly, "or else." Nat and Dante grinned.

"Of course not!" Dante said. Kira grinned as well, and the two mamodo shared a fist bump. Jo smiled and handed Nat a sheet of paper with a phone number and an email address on it.

"In case you need help or anything," Jo said.

Nat nodded. "Thanks."

"WILL ALL TRAVELLERS FOR THE 8:45 TRIP TO JAPAN PLEASE START BOARDING THE DESIGNATED PADS," a tinny voice called. Nat and Dante looked up.

"That's us," Nat said. "Let's go, Dante." Dante nodded, and the two stood up and headed to the pad boarding area. Kira and Jo stood up as well and waved in farewell.

"See ya soon!" Kira called.

"Thanks again, for everything!" Jo added. Nat and Dante waved back from on top of their pad with grins on their faces. A blue light enveloped them as the pad was activated, and Kira and Jo stopped waving as they slowly faded from view. Jo looked down at Kira, who had an unreadable expression on her face.

"You okay?" she asked. Kira nodded silently. "You sure?"

"I'm fine, Jo," Kira said, slightly irritably. "Let's go get something to eat. I'm starving."

Jo smiled and nodded. "Sure."

* * *

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Kira was silent from the Terminal, in the fish food restaurant they went to, and all the way back to the apartment, and promptly went to sleep as soon as the two got back. Jo frowned worriedly at this.

_That's odd. She hasn't said a word all morning..._ she thought. _I wonder what's bugging her... Could it be because Nat and Dante aren't here anymore?_

Realisation crossed her face. _That's it, isn't it? Nat and Dante aren't here anymore. It's just the two of us again... _She sighed and leaned back in her chair. _I guess this means things are gonna go back to the way they were, huh...?_

* * *

A small, dark-haired child with green eyes ran down the alley as fast as his legs could carry him. He was covered in dirt, cuts and bruises, and the worn, old clothes he wore were in tatters. Gunshots rang out from behind him, and bullets embedded themselves in the floor where his feet were seconds before. He looked back to see that the three gang members that were chasing after him were catching up.

"Hey! Stop right there!" the gangster in the middle yelled, raising his gun again. The boy ran faster as the gangster fired, and ducked into a side alley as another round of bullets flew past. He hit the ground rolling, sprang back up onto his feet, and took off again, his pursuers not far behind. He looked back again and slammed into a wall, letting out a small "Oof!" as the wind was knocked out of him. He slid down to the floor, then struggled up onto his feet and looked around – it was a dead end. He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see the gangsters slowly advancing. They stopped a short distance away, and terror filled him as he saw the cold grins on their faces.

"Would you look at that," the one with the gun said. "A dead end. Looks like this is it for you." His grin grew. "We'll teach you to steal from the Red Hoods." The other two on either side of him started walking forward, weapons raised. The boy backed up against the wall as they got closer, tears streaming down his face, and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Seriously?" a tired voice called. "I'm woken up from my sleep because of this? Three grown dudes against a small kid?" Surprise crossed the faces of the gangsters and the kid.

The gangsters and the kid looked up to see Kira and Jo standing on the top of the wall, looking down at them. Kira was rubbing her eye, and the light red spellbook was open in Jo's hands. The two jumped down off the wall and landed in front of the kid, facing the gang members.

"Don't you have any pride?" Kira continued. "Or are you guys so scared of a little kid?" The gangster with the gun glared at her.

"Who the fuck're you?" he snarled.

"Why the fuck should I tell you?" Kira shot back. "All you shitheads need to know is that I'm gonna kick your sorry asses."

At this the gangster cracked up.

"You? Beat us up?" he chortled. "Please. Your weak ass wouldn't last five seconds in a fight." A rage vein popped up on Kira's head.

"Oho?" she said. "I might have let you off with a warning if you'd begged for forgiveness..." An evil look crossed her face, and she cracked her knuckles. "But it looks like you need to be taught some manners."

"Burn in hell!" the gangster cried, and he and the other two sprang forward.

"Right back atcha, fuckface," Kira replied. "I'll start you off." She put her hands forward, and the book in Jo's hands glowed brightly.

"JORU!"

* * *

A few minutes and several fireballs later, the gangsters were in a heap in front of Kira and Jo, burned to a crisp.

"Tch," Kira exhaled. "Dipshits. Maybe you'll think next time before talking." She and Jo turned to the boy, who was staring at them in shock.

"Are you okay?" Jo asked. The boy nodded, speechless.

"Then I'd get outta here soon, if I were you," Kira said, "before they wake up. Maybe now I can get some sleep..." She turned and started walking away, and Jo followed, looking back at the boy with a smile.

"Bye," she said, raising a hand in farewell. For a few more seconds the boy was frozen to the spot. Then he ran after them.

"Hey!" he yelled. Jo and Kira looked back at him.

"What is it now?" Kira said irritably, just before he threw himself forward and wrapped his arms around her. Surprise came onto Jo's face, and shock crossed Kira's, as he looked up at her with huge, tearful eyes.

"Thank you!" he sobbed, tears streaming down his face. "Thank you so much!"

Kira stared at him, wide-eyed.

_Helping people... feels really good._

A warm, sincere smile spread across Kira's face as she remembered Nat's words.

"Yeah," she said, and patted the boy on the head. Jo smiled a little as well at the sight. "You're welcome."

_Now I get it. _

"What's your name, kid?"

"Di-Diego..."

"Well, then, Diego, since it doesn't look like you're going anywhere in particular, you wanna come stay with us for a bit? I'm sure Jo wouldn't mind. Right, Jo?" She looked up at Jo, who nodded.

"Fine by me," she said. "As long as you promise not to get into trouble."

Diego's eyes widened. "Re-really?"

Jo nodded. "Yeah. What do you say?"

A joyful expression came across Diego's face, and he nodded vigorously. Kira grinned.

"All righty then," she said, and crouched with her back to him. "Come on. I'll give you a piggyback ride."

Diego squealed and jumped on Kira's back, and the three of them started off to Jo's apartment. Jo looked at Kira, who was chatting to Diego with a grin, and her own smile grew.

_You guys were right, _she thought._ Helping people who need it is the greatest feeling in the world. _

* * *

**Twenty-seventh chapter complete. :D Hope you liked it! Happy Easter, everyone!**

**Passed the 200-mark! :D Thanks go out to the reviewers: Bren Tenkage (sankyuu! ^_^ It'll definitely be worth the wait! I won't let you down!), Shooting Star Rider (haven't heard from you in a while. Glad you like! XD Yeah, I guess you're right, it just makes the semi-hiatus seem lazy somehow...), thatguy3331 (thank you very much! Glad you liked it! XD And tell him that he won't have much longer to wait.), Wowza48 (thanks! ^_^), lightning blast (thank you!), DeathySophia (Haha, you're welcome. XD Thanks! I'll try!), Seto Yami-Lord of Darkness (Pfft. XD Good luck with that. :P), shadowdawg96(thanks, man! :D), and 'just some reader who's kept up'(Well, thank you. I hope you won't be disappointed! ^_^)! And thanks to the readers!**

**Semi-hiatus is still in effect until further notice. Just to remind you guys.**

**Mamodo team debut: Sir Isaac and Djem**

**Submitted by: Bren Tenkage**

**Until the next chapter,**

**Cyaz!**


	28. Level 28: The Neko's Challenge

"Farga!"

An explosion rang out into the air. A spellbook shined brightly.

"Kuroido!"

Dante was sent flying back. He flipped and landed in front of Nat, and the two looked at their opponents tensely.

"Heh," the mamodo jeered, "is that the best you can do? I expected more from someone of your power level."

"Kuh..." Dante exhaled, gritting his teeth.

_How did we end up in this situation...? _Nat wondered.

* * *

Earlier that day, Dante, Jiko and Austin had been on a bench at the park, talking about Nat and Dante's trip to America. It was three days into the first school week after the half term break, and Austin had insisted on hearing all about Nat and Dante's trip.

"... and then we had a race to see who could go round the lake fastest, and I almost won, except Kira got in front of me at the last second!" Dante said excitedly. Jiko and Austin were hanging on his every word. "It was awesome! Oh, and you shoulda seen Kira in action, she's amazing at jetpacking! She can do loop de loops and spins and flips and twirls and all kinds of other stuff!"

"Wow, she sounds awesome!" Austin said, grinning.

"She is!" Dante replied. "Maybe I could get Nat to ask her and Jo to come over and visit..."

"That would be amazing! Can't wait!" a voice said, from right behind them.

The three mamodo jumped at the sudden sound, and whipped their heads round to see a girl grinning at them, her head resting on her arms which were crossed over the top of the bench. She was about seven years old, with long black hair tied back in pigtails. She wore a dark blue, short sleeved overcoat over a black shirt, black pants and black boots. Cat ears twitched mischievously on her head, and a tail stuck out behind her, shaking about merrily.

"Hello," she greeted. The three mamodo looked at the newcomer in complete puzzlement.

"Uh... Sorry, but who are you...?" Dante asked.

"I go by many names," the girl said, with an air of grandeur. "The Neko Queen, the Shadowcat, and the Night Purr, to name a few. But you can call me Amber!" She opened her eyes as she introduced herself, and from this the other three could see that her eyes were amber, the same as her name.

"Nice to meet you, Amber!" Dante said.

"Course it is," Amber said smugly, arms crossed. "Oh, yeah, actually, you guys are all mamodo, right?"

Austin and Jiko stared at her with wide, shocked eyes. Dante, however, just nodded.

"Yup," he said. Jiko and Austin whipped their heads round to look at him like he was an idiot. "So you're power-sensitive too?" Amber nodded, and then grinned at Jiko and Austin.

"Hey, don't worry," she said, "I'm not here to fight you guys. I'm just here while my book owner's doing some school competition in the city." Austin and Jiko visibly relaxed. "Actually, I wanted to ask you a favour..."

Dante grinned. "Sure! What is it?"

"Well, I'm looking for a mamodo that's supposed to be around here..." Amber explained. "His name is Dante." Surprise crossed the other three mamodo's faces, which Amber noticed. "Oh, so you've heard of him?"

"Well, actually... You're looking at him..." Dante said sheepishly, scratching his cheek. Amber's eyes widened, and she scanned through the three.

"Oh, so you're Dante, then?" she asked, addressing Austin. "You certainly have a pretty scary feeling about you..."

Austin sweat-dropped in response. "You're talking to the wrong person. _He's _the one you're looking for." He pointed at Dante, and surprise crossed Amber's face.

"Wait. _You're _Dante?" she said, almost in disbelief. Dante nodded, and she looked at him closely, eyes narrowed. "I thought you'd be... bigger."

"Sorry to disappoint..." Dante muttered, sweat-dropping. He straightened up. "So how can I help you?"

"Oh, just being here is more than enough!" Amber replied. "This makes things a lot easier." Dante raised an eyebrow in confusion as she took a step back and pointed at him.

"I challenge you to a battle!"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the school, during break, Nat, Kyle and Takato were at their usual spot, sitting on the bench underneath the large tree. Kyle was listening as Nat recounted what had happened over the midterm break, and although Takato appeared to be reading and ignoring the other two as always, he was listening as well.

"You got free jetpack rides?" Kyle asked incredulously. "That must've been awesome!"

"Yeah, it was pretty cool, although we almost didn't get to do the other two after Kira lost control of her jetpack at Crater Lake..." Nat said, scratching the back of his head. "She went flying all over the place, like a dizzy bee. Thankfully, she didn't actually fall off, but she got a kid pack for the others."

Kyle cracked up, and Takato snorted in a way that clearly said _Idiot._

"She'd never ridden a jetpack before, though," Nat pointed out.

"Neither had Dante, and he didn't almost get himself killed, did he?" Takato countered, without looking up.

"Fair point," Kyle said. Something out in the courtyard caught his eye, and he sat up. "Hey, check it. Some lovely ladies at ten o'clock."

Nat looked in the direction Kyle indicated to see a group of girls entering the courtyard, headed towards the gymnasium. Unlike the girls that went to the school, these girls were all dressed in casual clothing.

"Who are they?" Nat asked, eyebrow raised.

"I think they're here for the girls' martial arts tournament," Kyle said. "Too bad it's girls only, eh, Nat?" He gave Nat a knowing wink and nudge, and Nat shrugged. The bell rang to signal the end of break, and the three got up.

"Well, I'm gonna go watch it," Kyle said, as Takato left for the library. "You wanna come with?"

"Sorry, but I have to see Hayate-sensei about something..." Nat replied. "I'll try to come after, though."

Kyle nodded. "Gotcha!" He started running towards the gymnasium, where other students were already gathering. "I'll save you a seat in case you do make it. Later!"

Nat nodded and waved at Kyle's retreating figure, then set off towards the main school building, shaking his head. What was that about only the girls being able to participate? Honestly, Kyle really overestimated his ability sometimes...

Loud swearing suddenly rang out from the direction of the school gates. Nat looked to the courtyard entrance to see a girl running in. She was about 15 years old, with long brown hair in a braid and blue eyes, and was wearing a black jacket over a dark blue T-shirt, black jeans and black boots.

"DAMMIT!" she yelled. "I told them to wake me up when we got here, didn't I? When I catch those bitches, the things I'll do...!"

She slowed to a stop in the middle of the courtyard, suddenly realising something. "I have to find them first, though... Where were we supposed to go again?" She looked around, more than a little lost, but there was no way she was going to ask anyone for directions! Surely these guys had to have some sort of sign or banner or _something_ that would tell her where –

"Um... Are you lost?"

The girl's mind went on autopilot, and she lashed out in the direction of the voice with a spinning kick. Nat quickly blocked her kick with his hands.

"Whoa!" he yelped. The girl stared at him in shock. Did this guy just block her kick with his bare hands?

"W-what the hell, man!" she quickly snapped. "Don't sneak up on someone like that!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you..." Nat said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I was just wondering if you needed help with directions. You seemed kind of –"

"I'm not lost!" the girl protested loudly, before he could finish. "I know exactly where I'm going!" She turned and started walking away quickly. Nat raised an eyebrow.

"You sure about that?"

"Of course I'm sure, idiot!" the girl retorted. "Does it look like I'm lost?"

"Well, kind of; for starters, you're going the wrong way," Nat pointed out. The girl abruptly stopped. "You're here for the tournament, right? That's in the gym. You're going towards the labs."

The girl was silent for a moment.

"I... I knew that!" she shouted, and started off in another direction.

"Now you're going towards the guys' changing rooms."

The girl stopped again. A rage vein popped up on her head, and she turned to face Nat.

"All right, smartass," she growled. "Since you know this place _so much_ better than I do, why don't _you_ tell me _where the hell the stupid gym is?!_"

"Sure." The girl's expression changed to one of surprise as Nat pointed at the gym. "It's that way. The big white dome over there. Can't miss it – everyone's crowded round it."

The girl looked in the direction Nat pointed.

"Oh," she said simply. She suddenly turned on him again. "Well, why didn't you freaking say so before!"

"S-sorry..." Nat said, sweat-dropping. _But you said you knew where you were going... _"Well, good luck in the tournament! Our girls are pretty good, you know!" He turned and continued on towards the main school building again. The girl was silent again for a moment, watching his retreating figure.

"Hey!" she called out. Nat stopped and looked back at her, and she looked away. "Uh... Thanks for the help."

Nat smiled and nodded. "Any time!" He turned towards the main school building again.

"Wait." Nat turned back to the girl again. "What's your name?"

"Ah, I'm Nathaniel Anamura," he replied. "But you can call me Nat."

"Nat, huh..." the girl muttered, almost to herself. She nodded.

"Senna Hiroko. That's the name of the person who's gonna beat your school single-handed! Don't forget it!" A cocky grin spread on the girl's face as she introduced herself. Nat blinked, and then grinned and nodded.

"Yeah. Good luck!" He started off towards the main building again. Senna watched him go with a thoughtful expression.

_That guy... could he be..._

* * *

Dante, Jiko and Austin were sitting in the sandbox, watching all the other kids play. They were strangely quiet.

"Hey, guys! Ready to go?"

The three looked up to see Nat and Kyle at the gate. They got up and slowly walked over, without a word. Nat and Kyle quickly noticed the three mamodo's solemn expressions.

"What happened?" Nat asked. The three mamodo stopped in front of Nat and Kyle, and Dante looked up at Nat.

"We have a battle in an hour."

* * *

_Dante stared at Amber in confusion. "What?"_

"_You heard what I said," Amber said. "The venue is the derelict part of the city, so nothing can get in the way. Come there at five. I'll be waiting." She turned and stated walking away "And don't even try not showing up, because if you don't, I'll come after you and we'll battle the very minute I find you. No matter where that may be."_

"_Wha..." Dante stared after her in shock, and then jumped off the bench and ran after her. "W-wait! Hold on a sec!" She stopped at the gate and looked back at him impatiently as he stopped in front of her. "Why do we have to battle? I have no reason to fight you!"_

"_We're both in this Tournament to be King, aren't we?" Amber replied. "That's all the reason I need. Besides, I want to see if the rumours about you are really true." She started off again. "Remember: I will come after you if you don't show up. And I can't guarantee the safety of your friends if I see them along the way." Dante stared after her as she got further away. "Later."_

* * *

"So that's what happened..." Nat muttered, as he and Dante walked into the derelict part of the city. Dante nodded. "Could you maybe have done something to her somehow that offended her?"

"Wha – No!" Dante exclaimed, looking up at Nat indignantly. "I've never even met her before today! But she was really serious." He looked forward again. "I get the feeling that we won't be able to get out of this."

Nat nodded. Now that he thought about it, it had been a while since they had a battle purely because of the competition. They'd been lucky enough to have only a few battles, but some mamodo teams wouldn't be as inactive; the number of mamodo still in the competition must have dropped quite a bit by now, so it was likely that they would have to battle more frequently than before. He still suspected Dante might have upset her somehow...

"I didn't do anything!" Dante loudly protested.

"Sure you didn't," Nat replied.

"He really didn't do anything, though."

Nat and Dante stopped and looked up at the roof of the building in front of them, the source of the voice, to see Amber standing there, arms crossed.

"So you came," she continued. "Well, at least I know for sure now that you really aren't a spineless coward." She hopped off the roof and landed in a crouch on the ground a few metres in front of them, and straightened up. "Hey, they're here."

"About time, too," a voice grumbled. As Nat and Dante watched, a figure emerged from the shadows on the right side of the building, holding a dark purple spellbook. "And the guy who you heard about was this little shrimp?"

"Hey!" Dante exclaimed.

"He's actually stronger than he looks, judging from his magic power," Amber said.

"We'll be the judge of that," her book owner replied. For some reason, the voice sounded oddly familiar to Nat. As Amber's book owner got closer, Nat's eyes widened in recognition.

"Senna?" he said, surprised. Senna stopped and looked at Nat in surprise, which quickly turned into realisation.

"It's you!" she said. "Nat, right?" Nat nodded. "So you're a book owner too..."

"Oh, you guys know each other?" Amber said, delighted. "Then there's no need for introductions. Ready, Senna?"

"Yeah," Senna said, grinning. "Let's get this party started." She opened up her book, which started glowing.

"Let's go, Dante!" Nat said, opening his own book.

Dante nodded. "Yeah!"

"Kuroido!"

Amber thrust her arms forward, and a large shadow rose from the ground and flew at Nat and Dante.

"Farga!"

Four stars appeared around Dante and Nat, and shot beams at the shadow, intercepting it. The two spells cancelled each other out, bringing up a small cloud of smoke. The smoke quickly cleared, and the two mamodo rushed at each other.

* * *

**Here's chapter twenty-eight! :D I'm incredibly sorry about this taking so long, but I hope the wait was worth it!**

**Thanks go out to all the reviewers of the last chapter: Bren Tenkage (Yeah, true that. *nods*), DeathySophia (Yeah, sorry about all that, eheheh... I'll try to make her swear less from now on, but you know how she is. *shrugs* You'll have to wait till next chap for the fight, but I hope you liked this one!), Seto-Yami Lord of Darkness (All shall be revealed in time... :D), thatguy3331(Well, I hope this chapter was a step up! How's your story going? o.o) shadowdawg96 (Thanks! ^_^), Tsuki6047 (Thanks! XD And that's fine! In hope I can depend on your feedback in the future!), Wowza48 (Thank you so much. XD), 'just some reader who's kept up' (Sorry for the wait! Zatch and the others won't be here for a while yet, unfortunately, but I'll try to make their appearance worth the wait! Thanks!), Daien (Thanks a lot for the review again! Hope this chap didn't disappoint!), The Pocketwatch Ripper (That's great to hear! And you'll just have to wait and see, won't you? XD), and Bunnys-n-PenguinsWillRuleEarth, for two chapter reviews (Thanks!)! And thanks to all the readers! We'll make it to the end of this thing yet!**

**Mamodo team debut: Amber and Senna**

**Submitted by: kitsunelover300**

**Till the next chapter,**

**Cyaz!**


	29. Level 29: Uncertainty

"Kuroido!"

Amber thrust her arms forward, and her shadow rose up from the ground into one large mass above her. With a forward thrust of her arms, she sent the mass flying at Nat and Dante. Dante aimed at the mass as it approached.

"Farga!"

Four stars appeared around Nat and Dante, shooting out beams that intercepted the shadow. The two spells cancelled each other out, and the resulting explosion brought up a cloud of smoke.

Suddenly Amber burst through the smoke, towards Nat and Dante. Dante shot forward to intercept her, and the two mamodo met in the middle and exchanged a flurry of hits. Dante caught both of Amber's fists, but she drew her head back and smashed it into his, knocking him back. As he stumbled backwards, Amber came at him from below and drove her fist into his gut, sending him skidding back. Immediately she was in front of him again, swinging her clasped hands down upon him, but he caught her attack and went in for a leg sweeper, and she was sent spinning over his back. She landed on her feet just behind him, between him and Nat, and a smirk spread on her face as she realised the position she was in.

_Leaving your book owner unprotected? That wasn't very smart._

"Kuroido!" Senna chanted, as Amber thrust her palm in Nat's direction, and her shadow rose and shot at Nat. Nat started, and Dante's eyes widened in surprise.

_So, how're you gonna react, Dante?_

However, to Amber's surprise, Dante made no attempt to intercept the beam, and Nat didn't try to move out of the way. Amber raised an eyebrow as Nat's book started to glow.

"Fashield!"

Five stars appeared around him, and the yellow pyramidal shield was formed just before the shadow reached him. The shadow bounced off the shield harmlessly, and Amber's eyes widened slightly.

_Ah._

"Amber, behind you!"

At Senna's sudden yell, Amber's head whipped round to see Dante almost right behind her and approaching fast. Before she could even react Dante slammed into her legs, knocking her off her feet and sending her flying over his back, in the opposite direction. Amber flipped in the air and landed in a crouch a few metres in front of Senna, eyes narrowed slightly.

That was weird. Why didn't he attack her properly?

"Senna!" she yelled, slamming her hands down on the ground.

"Right!" Senna replied. The book in her hands glowed brightly. "Kuroido!"

Amber's shadow gathered under her palms before suddenly erupting, propelling her upward. Shadow clung to her arms in a thin coat, and Dante crossed his arms in front of him for protection as she bore down upon him. Her fists smashed into him, and the raw force imprinted a small, shallow crater in the ground below his feet, but he withstood the attack. Amber pushed off and landed on her feet about a metre away, then shot forward at Dante and attacked with a vicious flurry of punches and kicks, most of which Dante avoided or blocked. Nat watched the furious scuffle, slightly worried.

_I hope you know what you're doing, Dante..._

* * *

"_Hey, Nat."_

"_Hm?"_

"_Do you mind holding back for a while at the start of the battle?"_

"_Huh?" Nat turned his head to face Dante, an eyebrow raised. "What for?"_

"_I want to determine something." Dante looked up at him, a solemn expression on his face. "You already know, right?"_

_Nat was silent for a moment._

"_... This mamodo threatened to come after you and was willing to hurt your friends along the way if you didn't show up, right? I don't think that leaves much room for doubt..."_

"_Yeah, she _said _that, but I don't think she meant it. I just have to know her real intentions. I don't want to have to send back someone who really deserves the title of Mamodo King." Dante looked ahead. "If you think it's gotten to the point that we'll definitely lose otherwise, then we can use spells. I know I'm being selfish, but I don't wanna have to get into an unnecessary fight just for the sake of the Battle. Please..."_

_After a rather lengthy silence, Nat nodded. "Understood. We'll do things your way."_

* * *

"Kuroido!"

Amber thrust her arm forward, and her shadow rose and smacked into Dante, who crossed his arms in front of him for protection. The attack pushed him back a bit, but he stood firm.

"Tch," Amber hissed, moving back a bit, further into the shadows. Why wasn't he attacking her? So far he'd only used his spells to block hers, and only then when his book owner was in danger. She suspected that he was holding back, but it certainly didn't _feel_ that way... Was he trying to find the best way to beat her?

Her eyes widened slightly, and a small smirk came onto her face. Or could it be...?

"Senna!" she yelled. "The big one!"

"Right!" Senna replied. An alarm went off in Nat's head as Senna's book glowed brightly.

"Dante!" he yelled. _Ready Lance Point!_

"Gigano Kuroido!" Senna yelled. Amber raised her hands and the surrounding shadows rose and swirled around her, gathering around her arms in a thick coat. She shot forward at Dante, arms behind her, and four stars appeared around him as she swung her arms forward in a horizontal wave, sending the shadows flying at him in large waves forming a huge asterisk shape.

"Farga!"

The four stars around Dante streamed beams that converged to a point in front of him, forming the large spearhead, and he shot forward at the attack. The tip stabbed into the centre of the shadow attack, and the two spells cancelled each other out, resulting in an explosion that brought up a rather thick cloud of smoke.

Dante came through the smoke and landed on the other side, coughing slightly. Suddenly Amber was in front of him.

"Kuriodo!"

Before Dante could even react, Amber swung her arm up, and her shadow rose and smashed into him, sending him flying back. He flipped and landed on his feet, skidding back a bit before stopping a few metres in front of Nat. As the smoke cleared, Nat and Dante could see Amber and Senna walking forward.

"Heh." A smirk crossed Amber's face. "Is that the best you can do? I expected more of someone with your power level."

"Kuh..." Dante gritted his teeth.

So the rumours were exaggerated after all. He was certainly giving off the pressure of someone much more powerful, but he was probably just using a magic pressure amplifier or something. Oh, well, at least she could add another one to her book count. Something felt off, though...

"Why..."

Amber's train of thought was halted, and she focused on Dante as he looked her in the eye.

"Why did you challenge me?"

Amber's eyes widened slightly and the smirk was wiped off her face at Dante's question. Her look of bewilderment was replaced by irritation, and she shut her eyes.

So that was it.

"What do you mean, 'why?'" she answered. "This is the King Tournament, isn't it?"

"If it was for that reason, you'd have burned my book already," Dante countered, slowly rising to his feet. "You've had plenty of chances to go after my book owner, but you stopped after the first attack was blocked." Amber opened her eyes to see Dante standing upright, a serious look on his face.

"You said it yourself, back at the park," Dante continued. "You're not the type of person to pick fights just for the sake of it. So why are you battling me?"

Amber furrowed her brow. What was with that look? It was irritating.

"You're thinking too much," she stated plainly. "Besides which..."

She suddenly shot forward, a fist raised. Startled, Dante just managed to catch her punch.

"Regardless of the reason for it, this is a battle," Amber continued. "A battle with a lot on the line, including our pride. If you're not going to take it seriously..."

"Yami Karasu!"

The shadows around the two rose up and transformed into a flock of crows, which came at Nat, screeching. Nat was caught in the spell, and as the crows flew past him his book was knocked out of his hand, landing a few feet behind him. Nat quickly went after the book, but stopped dead when he saw Amber right in front of it, her hand in front of it.

"... then I'm going to send you back right now," she finished. Nat and Dante rushed forward, and Amber jumped over Nat as he dove at the book, landing a few feet in front of Senna. Dante immediately turned round to face the two, and Nat quickly got to his feet.

"It's not funny when people hold back that much because of something pointless," Amber said. "Fight me properly."

Dante's eyes widened, and after a moment a small grin came onto his face.

"Right," he replied. "Nat!"

"Yeah," Nat said, also grinning determinedly. "No more holding back. Let's show these guys what we can do!"

"Right!"

Amber grinned. "Good. Now..." She shot forward once more. "Let's go!"

Dante shot forward as well, and the two mamodo met in the middle and exchanged a flurry of hits. Amber caught Dante's punch as he blocked her kick with the back of his arm.

"Farga!"

Suddenly the ground under Amber's other foot crumbled, making her lose her footing. Dante's fist smashed into her gut, sending her flying back. Senna's eyes went wide.

_He... with one punch, he..._

Amber flipped and landed in a crouch in front of Senna, spitting out some blood.

"Are you okay?" Senna asked, slightly worried. Amber nodded, then looked forward, and what looked like alarm crossed her face. Senna looked up to see Dante coming at them.

"Ku-Kuroido!" she yelled. Amber's shadow rose, and following the movement of her arms the shadow split into two and shot forward at Dante. Dante moved left and then right, avoiding both shadows, and then leapt skyward. A small grin came onto Amber's face.

_Yes!_

"Senna!"

"Right! Kuroido!"

Amber swung her arms up, and her shadow rose and shot upwards at Dante. Dante smashed his fist into the shadow, redirecting it, and it smashed into the ground below him as Amber shot up at him. Dante crossed his arms in defence as Amber let loose with a flurry of punches. He caught one of her punches, then flipped around in the air and hurled her to the ground.

Amber hit the ground hard, getting the wind knocked out of her, then looked up to see Dante coming down at her, a fist raised behind him. Her eyes widened, and she rolled backwards just before Dante's fist smashed into the ground where she had been a second before, destroying it. Amber jumped back, putting some distance between them, and her grin grew.

"Senna!" she yelled, arms behind her.

"Gigano Kuriodo!"

The sparse shadows around Amber rose and gathered round her arms, and she shot forward at Dante.

"Farga!" _Lance Point!_

Four stars appeared around Dante and the large spearhead structure was formed, and he shot forward to meet Amber point first as she thrust her arms forward, sending the large asterisk at him. He smashed into it with Lance Point, piercing it, and the two spells cancelled each other out, resulting in an explosion that threw up a cloud of smoke. Dante burst through the smoke at Amber, and she crossed her arms in front of her as his fist smashed into her, the force sending her flying back.

_This power... There's no way I could take him on in close combat without spells. He's every bit as strong... No, even stronger than the rumours said!_

She landed on her feet, skidding back a bit before stopping in front of Senna, a huge grin on her face.

_Great! This is really great!_

"Senna!" she yelled. "The big one! No holding back!"

"Gotcha!" The book in Senna's hands started shining brightly. "GIGANO KUROIDO!"

Amber raised her arms up, and the shadows all around her and Senna rose and gathered into one huge mass above her head. With a forward thrust of her arms, she sent the huge shadow flying at Dante. Dante aimed at the huge shadow as it approached, and Nat's book shone brightly.

"EXCELLES FARGA!"

Five more stars appeared, and the nine stars formed the shining X-shape in front of Dante. The huge light bolt shot forward from it and smashed through the shadow, obliterating it. Amber's grin grew even wider.

"Amazing..." she murmured, as the now-weakened bolt shot towards her and Senna.

"This isn't the time for awe, idiot!" Senna yelled. "Concentrate or we're done for!" The book in her hands started glowing brightly. "Frontal Forme!"

"Right!"

"Kageshirudo!" The shadows around the two rose and gathered in front of them, forming a large, circular convexed shield. The bolt slammed into the shield, pushing them back, and then exploded, sending the two flying through the wall of the derelict building behind them and bringing up a thick cloud of smoke.

As Nat and Dante watched, the smoke cleared to reveal a gaping hole in the front of the building, blown in by the explosion. Amber lay on a pile of debris, grinning.

"That... was awesome," she decided, panting heavily. She looked over to the side. "Senna, are you –"

Her eyes widened as she saw that Senna was partially buried under some rubble, her face screwed up in pain. Her book, thankfully, was still intact. Amber sprung to her feet and rushed over to Senna's side.

"Senna!" Amber dropped to her knees at Senna's side. Senna let out a few coughs.

"Dammit, Amber," she muttered, "see what you've done now?"

"Are you okay?" Dante yelled. The two looked up to see him and Nat running forward, looking worried.

"I'm fine, but I can't move... My legs are stuck under something." Senna sat up slowly, coughing again.

"Okay... Uh..." Amber carefully studied the pile covering Senna.

Suddenly an alarm rang in Nat's head, and his eyes widened.

"Crap!" He started running faster. "Amber, you have to get out of there now!"

"Huh?" Amber raised an eyebrow. "What's the hurry? It's not like she's fatally injured or any–"

"That building is going to collapse in about five seconds!"

Dante's eyes widened and he started running faster as well. Alarm crossed Amber's and Senna's faces.

"_**WHAT?!**_"

"You have to hurry!"

Amber quickly dropped to their knees and attacked the pile, sending debris flying. Sure enough, soon the building started to crumble around them, creaking and cracking ominously.

"HURRY UP!" Senna yelled, panicking.

"I'M TRYING!" Amber shot back. She suddenly spotted something. "I think I've found the problem!"

But it was too late. The building had already started to collapse, even as Dante reached the two and started to help them. Nat was still running as he saw it cave in, and his eyes widened.

"Argh! DANTE!" _Get ready!_ Dante straightened up and faced away from Amber and Senna.

"You can't just leave us here!" Senna yelled.

"I'm not gonna." Amber and Senna looked up at Dante in surprise at his response. Nat's book shone brightly.

"FASHIELD!"

The building collapsed in on itself just as Nat yelled, bringing up a cloud of smoke.

"DANTE! SENNA! AMBER!" Nat yelled frantically.

Silence. Nat's eyes went wide, and he started to tremble, his head down.

_We're okay!_

Nat's head shot up as the pile of debris exploded outward, revealing Dante, Amber and Senna, safe within the pyramid shield. Relief came onto Nat's face as the spell dispersed.

"Dante," he said, walking towards them.

"Got it." Dante turned around and grabbed onto the large piece of debris pinning Senna down. With one tug, he lifted it clear off of her legs.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Senna and Amber were still looking at him in shock.

"Y-yeah..." Senna replied, nodding slowly. Dante grinned.

"Good!"

He put the debris down beside him. A smile crossed Amber's face, and she rose to her feet.

"Okay, I'm satisfied." She turned to Senna. "Can you walk?"

Senna stretched her legs, and then slowly stood up, testing them. She nodded. "Yeah, my legs are a bit sore, but..."

"Good. We're going." Amber turned away and started walking off.

"Whatever," Senna huffed, dusting herself off. Confusion crossed Nat and Dante's faces.

"Wait a second," Dante said. Amber and Senna stopped. "You don't want to fight any more?"

"No need," Amber replied. "I've found out what I wanted to know." She turned her head to face Dante. "Your power and speed, your fighting style... All the rumours were wrong. You're even stronger than I'd thought. And there's one other thing..." A grin came onto her face. "Your kindness. You guys... are good people." She turned and bowed ever so slightly. "Without a doubt, that was the best battle I've ever had. Thanks for showing me your true power." She straightened up.

"I was in way over my head," she continued. "As we are now, there's no way we can beat you. But we're gonna get stronger. When we do, we'll have another battle." She pointed at Dante. "You better not lose to anyone before then!"

Dante grinned and nodded. "Got it! We won't lose next time, either!"

Amber smirked. "That's our line." She turned and walked away with Senna, raising her hand up in farewell. "See ya then!"

"Looks like we have new rivals, huh?" Nat said, as the two disappeared from view.

"Yeah. Another good team. The future of the Mamodo World is looking bright!" Dante looked up at Nat, determined, and raised his fist. "Let's get even stronger from here on out, Nat!"

Nat grinned. "Yeah." He brought his fist to meet Dante's. "It's a promise!"

* * *

In a remote location, the winged mamodo was studying something intently. Her subordinate walked in.

"Ma'am...?"

The winged mamodo looked up wearily, bags under her drooping, bloodshot eyes.

"Whuh...?" she replied, half-asleep.

"Um, it's getting really late... I was going to turn in for the night."

"Oh, okay. Thanks for your hard work." The winged mamodo turned back to her table. Her subordinate looked at her worriedly.

"Don't you want to rest...?" he asked. She shook her head.

"I'll be fine. I'm going to bed after this one anyway." She waved him away. "Now go on, shoo."

Her subordinate hesitated for a moment, then left. She turned her attention back to what she was looking at.

Suddenly she noticed something, and her eyes widened, any sign of tiredness gone. She looked over it again, then quickly got up and grabbed an old book. She hurried with it back to her table, studying it intently. A huge, toothy grin spread on her face.

"Found you~."

* * *

**I DID IT. :D I FINALLY FINISHED IT. OH MY GOD THIS FEELS SO GOOD. XD I hope the chapter was worth the wait! **

**I am so very sorry for the delay, this battle had been a real problem to write initially, and I could not for the life of me figure out why. But then I realised what the problem was, and the chapter just flooded out of me. I've also been sort of busy and having some other troubles, but mostly they were this thing I was doing wrong. However, that is no excuse. This might make up for it, though:**

**I'm putting this story on a weekly update basis.**

**Yeah, I know, you're probably thinking, "yeah, _sure_, what with pre-U and all your 'writer's block' and everything, that's the greatest idea _ever_." But I've decided to keep myself to a schedule, for two reasons: first, I really want to finish the story, and that can't happen if I'm always taking breaks because of this, that and the other; secondly, I'm aiming to become a manga writer - a proper manga writer - and write for Shueisha, if possible, and I'm working on a storyline already, but I won't be able to keep up unless I can pump out a chapter every week. There isn't a set update day yet, but basically I should be updating roughly once every 7 days from here on out, so look forward to it!**

**Thanks to everyone who's reviewed the story in my absence: kitsunelover(hope the battle didn't disappoint!), DeathySophia(yeah, sorry to abruptly leave right after. XD Thanks!), thatguy3331(Muahahahaah. XD Yes, then I left for about 4 months. It was all part of my... master plan. Yeah, that's it.), Wowza48(I hope it was!), Bren Tenkage(hopefully. XD), 'just some reader who's kept up(sorry about that... I'll try not to, with the new weekly basis, so I hope you'll stay tuned!), CrumbledCandyWrapper(Ah, yeah, and here's the update. XD Hey, thanks!), Seto-Yami-Lord of Darkness(you ain't alone, buddy. :P), and Tsuki6047(depending on what you meant by 'soon,' you'll either be really pissed or... really pissed. XD)! And thanks to all of teh readers who've make it thus far! I promise to get even better, so please stick around!**

**Till the next chap (some time next week), **

**Cyaz!**


	30. Level 30: Field Trip!

BlackRose stretched and yawned loudly.

"This is boring," she said, stretching. "I shouldn't have to put up with this. Why aren't we leaving already?"

"Patience, BlackRose," the mamodo beside her said, his arms behind him. "Ma'am isn't ready yet. We can't leave without her, you know."

"Yeah, so shut up for once, BlackRose."

The second voice came from a 16-year-old who was lying beside BlackRose, holding a dark pink book. He had untidy brown hair and black eyes, and was dressed in an orange T-shirt under an unzipped grey jacket with black stripes, jeans, and blue sneakers. He looked rather bored.

"She'll get here when she gets here," he continued, "and whining isn't going to make any difference."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Tora," BlackRose replied, waving her hand at him. She turned to the other mamodo. "You're way too formal with her, you know that?"

"I'm simply showing respect for my leader." The other mamodo's eyes narrowed. "As you should be doing, might I add."

"Hey, hey, I'm just sayin', if we were just gonna wait around, then we might as well still be in our rooms."

"No need for that," a voice said suddenly. "We're leaving now."

The two turned to see the winged mamodo walking up to them, holding a rolled-up map. A rather tall teenager walked behind her, carrying a dark purple book.

"Hey, what took you so long?" BlackRose crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently. "We've been standing here for hours."

"Sorry, sorry, I just had to check up on some things. But we should be ready to go now." The winged mamodo turned to the other mamodo. "Is the helichopper ready?"

"Yes, ma'am. We have enough fuel for the trip and back, and the pilot's on standby."

The winged mamodo grinned. "Awesome. Great work." She looked up at the teenager beside her. "You ready to go?"

The teen nodded, a nasty grin on his face. "Let's go tear shit up."

"You seem awfully cheery today," Tora quipped.

"Who wouldn't be? This brings us one step closer to absolute victory." The teen looked down at the winged mamodo. "Right, 'Monstro'?"

Monstro grinned and nodded. "Yeah. A very large step." She stretched up and cracked her knuckles. "Let's move."

* * *

"I've got a lo-ve-ly bunch o' coconuts, ba-dum bum~

There they are a' standing in a row~ ba-dum bum!

Big ones, small ones –"

"Oi, monkey, knock it off," Takato interrupted, cutting Kyle off. "Some of us value our hearing."

Today was the much-anticipated field trip for Nat's grade and the one above, to a historic area of mountainous countryside. Currently, Nat, Kyle and Takato were sitting in a hoverbus with all the other students, dressed in casual clothing. The three were seated smack dab in the middle of the bus. Nat and Kyle were on one side, and Takato was seated alone across the aisle, reading.

"Hey, it's not like I'm the only one," Kyle said; all of the other students were still singing.

"Well, you're the only one who's close enough to bother me," Takato replied, without looking up, as usual. "So either move or shut it."

"Aw, come on, Mizuno! Loosen up a bit!" Kyle said, grinning. "You can't have a field trip like this and not sing on the way!"

Takato rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just keep it down."

Kyle stuck his tongue out. "Stick-in-the-mud. Aren't you even a little excited?"

"Of _course_ I'm excited. I'm going to be stuck in the wilderness with a bunch of overgrown pre-schoolers for three days, with no control over my daily schedule." Takato's voice was absolutely dripping with sarcasm. "I'm _ecstatic_."

Kyle sighed. "You're hopeless."

"Isn't that a little harsh...?" Nat asked, sweat-dropping.

"But he is! This is a field trip, for cryin' out loud! And he isn't even a little excited or anything! It's like he doesn't even care!" Kyle pointed an accusing finger at Takato. "Where the hell's your inner child, man?!"

"On the _inside_, where it's supposed to be."

Kyle facepalmed. "I give up." He turned to Nat. "You're excited, right?"

"Course I am!" Nat grinned. "This is probably the first field trip I'll be on where I'll be treated like a human being!"

"Atta boy! Don't let Mizuno get to you!" Kyle gave Nat a pat on the back, grinning, and then paused as he registered what Nat had just said. "Wait, what?"

"Well, because of my... _reputation_, I didn't really have good field trips when I was little," Nat explained. "Everyone always gave me a wide berth, so I was always on my own. Even if I got injured, I had to sort it out myself. I broke my arm on a field trip once, when I was eleven, and everyone around just sort of... left the area. Luckily the medbots don't really care who you are." Kyle stared at Nat, at a loss for words, and even Takato looked up from his book in alarm.

_And I thought_ I _had bad experiences on field trips_... Takato mused.

"But this year I've got you guys, and Hayate-sensei's in charge of this trip," Nat continued, leaning back against his seat, "so everything should be fine! And Dante and Jiko were able to come along, too." A thoughtful expression crossed his face. "Hey, where did those two go, anyway?"

"_Roll a bowl, a ball, a penny, a pi-itch!_

_Roll a bowl, a ball, a penny, a pi-itch!_

_Roll a bowl, a ball, you roll a roll a bowl, a ball_

_Singing roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch!"_

After the last line of the song, Dante and Jiko burst into happy laughter. The two were sitting at the very back of the bus, and had been singing along with everyone else.

"I can't believe we're coming on this trip!" Jiko exclaimed excitedly.

"I know!" Dante grinned. "This is gonna be awesome! We're gonna have so much fun!"

Jiko grinned. "Yeah!"

"It's just too bad Austin couldn't come..."

* * *

_The bucket of sand Austin was holding fell out of his hands, and he stared at Dante and Jiko, eyes wide in shock. "A field trip? Tomorrow?"_

_Dante nodded. "Yeah! Both Nat's and Kyle and Takato's grades are going, and we're allowed to come too!"_

_Austin fell to the floor, on his hands and knees. "I can't believe this... No, of course I can believe it. This is Takato, after all..."_

"_Huh?" Jiko tilted her head to the side. "Didn't you know?"_

"_No... Takato didn't tell me anything... And there's no way he's gonna let me go..."_

"_Couldn't you just ask?" Dante suggested. Austin looked up at him, a sceptical eyebrow raised._

"_This is Takato we're talking about here," he said flatly. "I can try, but I seriously doubt he'll even consider it, so don't count on me showing up tomorrow." He sat down in the sand and leaned back, propping his arms up behind him for support._

"_O-oh." Dante and Jiko frowned. _

"_Oh, man... This weekend is gonna be so lonely..." Austin slumped forward and stared at the sand dejectedly._

"_W-well, we don't have to go..." Jiko said. "We could always just stay behind and –"_

"_NO," Austin interrupted, looking up sharply. Dante and Jiko were taken aback. "Just because I can't go doesn't mean you should miss out." He got to his feet and pointed at them. "Go. Go on the field trip. But promise me this..." He raised his fist up, surrounded by a burning aura. "Promise me you'll have enough fun on the trip for the three of us!"_

_Dante nodded, also getting fired up. "Yeah. We'll have enough fun for ten people! We promise!" Jiko nodded as well, a determined expression on her face. Austin grinned._

"_Good!"_

* * *

"Well, we said that, but... It just won't be as fun without Austin around..." Dante frowned, crossing his arms.

"Don't say that! We promised Austin we'd have as much fun as we could, right?"

"I know, I know... It's just not fair that we could come and Austin couldn't."

Jiko sighed. "Yeah..." _I think it's unfair too, but... it'll be nice just being the two of us..._ A slight blush spread on her face. Dante raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked. "Your face is kinda red."

Jiko's eyes widened, and her blush deepened. She shook her head rapidly. "I-I'm fine!"

"Now it's even redder!" Dante leaned in and put his hand on a now beet-red Jiko's forehead. "You're really warm, too..."

"I-I-I-I S-SAID I'M FINE!" Jiko quickly turned away from Dante, eyes squeezed shut.

"Okay, if you're sure..." Dante said, pulling his hand back.

"It's really great that you could come with me, isn't it!? We're gonna have so much fun!"

"You're too carefree, you know..."

Somewhere near the front of the bus, two girls were seated. The smaller girl was about eight years old, had shoulder length pink hair with red highlights and red eyes, and had a small scar on her right cheek. She wore a buttoned-up blue denim jacket, blue denim jeans and brown steel-capped boots, and looked rather uneasy. The other girl was about twelve years old, with light brown hair in a ponytail and green eyes; she was dressed in a long-sleeved yellow sweater, bright blue bum shorts, and white sneakers. In between the two was a pink spellbook.

"You're no fun, Dianne," the older girl said, pouting. "You don't have to be so serious. This is a field trip! It's gonna be fun!"

"Yeah, no, sure, I bet this'll be _great_. Stuck out in the opening for three whole days, always having to be on the lookout for enemies while keeping the other humans uninvolved. No, you're right, this was an _awesome_ idea." Dianne looked up at her partner. "Or did that thought never occur to you, Lisa?"

Lisa looked down at the mamodo for a moment. Then she smiled and put her hand on Dianne's head.

"You worry too much for someone your age," she said, ruffling Dianne's hair. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you or the book, so just relax, okay?"

After a moment, Dianne sighed. "... You're right, sorry... I mean, who would want to follow us all the way out to the countryside? It's not like anyone knows where we are..."

"Exactly!" Lisa grinned. "There probably won't be any mamodo for miles! It'll be a whole weekend without having to worry about enemies."

"I guess..."

"Good!" Lisa looked up suddenly as the bus slowed to a stop. "Oh, it looks like we're here! Come on!" She grabbed the pink book in one hand and Dianne's hand in the other, and dashed out of the bus, pulling the mamodo along with her.

* * *

"Right, settle down, everyone!" Hayate yelled, over the excited chattering of the students. "First things first. Let's get you guys into your groups."

The field trip was actually for the purposes of building strong intergrade relationships, and was a chance for new students to meet new people and hopefully make some friends. The students were split into groups of five, from both year groups; this worked because of the relatively small student body size. Nat was put in Team 1, with Kyle, Takato, Lisa, and Kari Matsumoto.

"So what exactly are we supposed to do?" Kyle asked, after everyone had been put in their selective teams and sent off. Nat studied the instructions that the instructors had given out.

"Well, according to this, we're doing some sort of scavenger hunt," he said. "There are five sets of treasure, with three teams going after each set. Each treasure chest needs three keys to open them, and with each key should be a clue to where the treasure itself is hidden. The two teams who get to their treasure first win."

"Sounds simple enough," Kyle said, cracking his knuckles. "Any idea where the keys are?"

Nat skimmed through the three sets of clues in the instructions. "... As far as I can tell from these, there's one hidden in the lodge, one in the woods somewhere, and one in the picnic area."

"That's incredibly vague," Takato pointed out.

"Well, maybe, but it looks like we'll have some help." Nat prodded an area on the hologram, and three trackers appeared in front of him. Kyle grinned.

"Awesome!" he said, grabbing one of the trackers. "Dibs on the picnic area!"

"Try not to eat everything, will you?" Takato muttered. Kyle gave him a flat look.

"The picnic area isn't even set up yet, genius."

"I'm sure you'd find a way."

Kyle stuck his tongue out in response and headed off.

"Oh, I wanna do the woods!" Lisa piped up, grabbing one of the remaining trackers. She scurried off in the direction of the trees. "Takato, come with me!"

"... 'Kay." Takato slinked after her, head in his book.

"Okay... So that leaves the lodge to me... and..." Nat trailed off, his eyes widening as it dawned on him that only he and Kari were left. He looked up at Kari, who simply smiled at him.

Kari Matsumoto was the student council president, the youngest ever at fourteen years of age, and was one of the 'idols' of the school. She had light brown hair reaching down to her waist and turquoise eyes, and was lean and fit. She was smart, kind, and charismatic, and managed to be self-confident without coming off as cocky or self-obsessed. She was, in every way, perfect.

Almost every guy in the school wanted her. Most guys would kill to be in the position Nat found himself in now. This was what they called a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, wasn't it!? He had to be very careful about this...

"Um..." Kari's brows were furrowed in worry. "Are you okay...?"

"Ah!" Nat snapped out of his daze and straightened up. "I'm fine!"

"O... kay..." Kari moved back slightly, an eyebrow raised. "Then you wanna get started?"

Nat just nodded rapidly. Kari beamed and slipped her hand into his. Nat's eyes grew to the size of saucers.

_She... she's holding my hand...!_ he realised. _I'm holding Kari Matsumoto's hand! But wait... _Nat looked up at Kari's beaming expression. _She took my hand... She isn't... scared of me...?_

"Come on!" Kari said, pulling a red-faced Nat behind her.

* * *

"Look, that one looks like a tortoise."

"It looks more like a frying pan to me..."

Dante and Jiko were lying on their backs in a nearby field, a short distance from the camp site, looking up at the clouds. They had been told to 'not interfere' and to 'keep themselves busy' until dinnertime, and as neither of them had thought of anything better to do, they'd ended up cloud gazing.

_It's too bad we couldn't do the scavenger hunt, but..._ Jiko thought. She looked over at Dante and smiled, blushing slightly. _This is still nice._

Dante abruptly sat up and crossed his arms. "This is boring!" Jiko jumped, startled by the sudden movement. "It's not fair that we can't do the scavenger hunt! Let's go do something!"

"O... okay..." _I was kind of enjoying that, though..._ "What did you have in mind?"

"Um..." Dante scratched his head for a moment. He spotted a large tree and a grin spread on his face "Let's see who can get to the top of that tree the fastest!" He pulled Jiko to her feet, and the two faced the tree, ready to run.

"Okay, on my mark," Dante said. Jiko nodded and bent her knees slightly. "Ready... setGO!" Dante suddenly took off, taking Jiko by surprise.

"Ah, hey!" Jiko yelled, taking off after him. Because of Dante's rather unfair headstart, he was already halfway up the tree by the time Jiko had reached the base, and was on the top before Jiko could climb more than a third of its height.

"Hahaha! You're too slow!" Dante taunted, grinning. Jiko puffed up her cheeks.

"No fair!" she yelled back. "You cheated! That doesn't count!"

"Hey, don't hate the player," Dante replied, shrugging. "But we can do a do-over if it makes you feel any –"

A dull thud rang out into the air, startling the two. They looked towards the source of the sound to see a pink-haired, denim-clad girl staring at them with wide, shocked eyes, an empty water bottle at her feet.

* * *

**The thirtieth chapter, everyone! *bows* And only a day late! C'mon, that's pretty good for me, ain't it?**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter: AceStarKnight (aka Shooting Star Rider - sweet name change, dude! And thanks!), kitsunelover300 (glad to see I didn't disappoint! ^_^ I hope this chapter was all right as well), Bren Tenkage (thanks, man! :D), thatguy3331 (I replied earlier, but thanks again! Hope your writing's going well!), The Pocketwatch Ripper (Well, here you go, then! :D Thanks!), and a guest reviewer who really made my day! And thanks to all the readers!**

**Bet you guys didn't think I could do it, huh? TAKE THAT! :P I would have updated yesterday, but the damn thing REFUSED TO BE WRITTEN. X( Well, hopefully I haven't compromised any quality in my effort to keep to the deadline. **

**Until next week (hopefully Sunday),**

**Cyaz!**


	31. Level 31: World of Enemies

Dianne stared at the two kids in utter shock, her empty water bottle forgotten at her feet. She started to tremble slightly.

This couldn't be happening. There was no way this could be happening.

Why? Why were they here? There shouldn't be any mamodo for miles, Lisa said so herself! Why couldn't she just be left alone!?

_Wait, don't just jump to conclusions,_ Dianne thought. _They could just be normal human kids, siblings of one of Lisa's classmates or something. Yeah, that's probably it. Just regular, normal human kids..._

Dante and Jiko were both watching her; Dante out of curiosity, and Jiko cautiously, slightly worried. After a moment a small grin spread on Dante's face.

"Hey, there's another kid here!" he exclaimed, promptly sliding down the tree. He landed beside Jiko and waved. "Hey! Are you here on the field trip too?"

"Y-yeah..." Dianne replied, waving nervously.

"Awesome!" Dante grinned and walked over, and Jiko hastily followed. "I was kinda worried that we'd be the only kids here." He patted his chest. "I'm Dante, and this is Jiko." He put a hand on Jiko's shoulder while he introduced her, failing to notice her slight blush.

"H-hi," she said. Dianne raised an eyebrow.

"Okay... my name is Dianne."

Jiko's eyes narrowed slightly. That name sounded eerily familiar for some reason...

Dante grinned. "Nice to meet you, Dianne! I hope we can be friends!" He held his hand out, and after a moment Dianne took it.

_Friends... Yeah... That'd be nice, _she thought, smiling a little as the two shook hands. _They're just normal kids after all. See, Lisa was right. There was nothing to worry about..._

"Say..." Dante said suddenly, leaning in slightly. Dianne wryly noticed something like slight irritation crossing over Jiko's face.

Dante's next words wiped the smile off Dianne's face and sent a chill down her spine.

"You're a mamodo, right?"

_**POW!**_

Dante was sent flying back by Dianne's sudden punch. He slammed back first into a tree a few feet away, and then dropped to the ground. Jiko looked back at him, and then at Dianne, in utter shock, and quickly backed away. Dante rose to his feet, cupped his cheek and looked up at Dianne in surprise.

"You almost had me fooled there for a second," Dianne said, a shadow crossing her face. "I'm surprised you could still detect my pressure even through the cloak. I hate to admit it, but you're pretty good." She looked up at Dante and Jiko, a fire in her eyes. "Unfortunately for you, though, my book is safe with my partner, so I guess your plan failed."

Dante's eyes widened. "Wha –"

"Don't play dumb with me!" Dianne interrupted. "You're one of those glory hunters, right? Well, it's going to take more than that to take _me_ down!" She took a battle-ready stance. "I may not have the strongest offense spells, but I'm still an elite. I don't need my magic to take down mooks like you."

Jiko's eyes went wide. _I thought I recognised her from somewhere...! She's one of the elite mamodo, the 'Impenetrable Wall' with defensive power second only to Lady Tia herself!_

"Elite...?" Dante muttered, slightly confused. _Like that guy who could transform into weapons...?_ He then realised what Dianne was implying. "Wait a second, I don't –"

"Save it!" Dianne interrupted again. "Now that I'm not cloaking anymore, it's obvious that you're mamodo. I'll give you one chance to get out of my sight."

"B-but I really don't –"

"Suit yourself!" Dianne shot forward. Dante quickly ducked to avoid her fist, which was embedded in the tree behind him. Suddenly her foot was flying up at his face, and he crossed his arms to block as her kick slammed into him. The force of the attack made Dante stumble back, and then she was upon him again, attacking with a vicious flurry of punches, most of which he managed to block. He caught both of her fists and held on, putting Dianne in a deadlock. Dianne glared at him.

"Not bad," she growled, through gritted teeth.

"Listen to me!" Dante yelled, looking Dianne in the eye. "We're not here to fight you!"

"Oh, yeah? What are you doing here, then?" A feral look came onto Dianne's face. "Did _she_ send you?!"

Confusion came onto Dante's face. "What?"

"She _did, didn't _she?!" Dianne drew her head back and smashed it into Dante's, knocking him back. As he stumbled backwards, disoriented, she raised her leg above her head and smashed her heel into his head, driving him headfirst into the ground. Jiko could only stare in shock as Dante was taken down.

"You can tell your leader this..." Dianne said, pointing at Jiko, who started shaking in fear. "I'M NOT INTERESTED IN JOINING HER STUPID GROUP!" She shot forward at Jiko, a fist raised. Eyes squeezed shut, Jiko put her arms over her head in a defensive crouch.

A loud thud sounded out into the air.

Dante swayed slightly, but stood firm in front of Jiko, cupping his cheek where Dianne's fist had connected with his face. Surprise crossed Dianne's face.

"I have no idea who or what you're talking about," Dante started, nursing his bruised cheek, "but I already said we're not here to fight you. I don't want to have to fight anyone if I can avoid it." He looked up at her. "Even if we're mamodo, we don't have to fight. I meant what I said before..." He beamed. "I really hope that we can become friends."

Dianne just stared at Dante for a second. She lowered her head, and a shadow came across her face.

"Like I could believe that," she muttered. "There's no such thing as 'friends' in the Mamodo Battle. Even if you form some sort of partnership, you're going to end up having to fight one day, aren't you? There can only be one winner." Dante frowned. "That's how it is. No matter what kind of person you are, in a battle like this, everyone's out for themselves. You're just deluding yourself, thinking that way." She turned away.

"Someone with such a backwards way of thinking couldn't possibly be a threat to me," she continued, "So I'm gonna let you guys go for now. I'd advise you to stay out of my way. The next time I see you, I'm gonna treat you the way enemies should be treated."

With that, she walked away. Dante and Jiko watched her disappear into the woods. Dante winced and clutched at his head. "Ow..."

"Ah!" Worry crossed Jiko's face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... Just a little bruised," Dante said. "She was pretty strong..."

"Well, she _is_ an elite," Jiko noted. "I'm just glad we didn't have to get into a real fight!"

"Yeah, I guess..." _But the way she talked... Does she actually believe that?_

Suddenly Dante froze up, and his eyes widened. He looked sharply in the direction Dianne had just left.

_Oh, no!_

"W-what? What's wrong?" Jiko asked. Dante suddenly took off, surprising her. "Ah! Dante!"

"I have to check on something!" Dante yelled, looking back. "Wait here!"

"But Dianne went that way! She said –"

"I know what she said! But this is important!" Dante faced forward. "I'll be back soon, I promise!"

"O-okay..."

Dante gritted his teeth as he ran into the woods.

_This is bad...!_

* * *

Lisa emerged triumphantly from the woods, holding up the key and covered in dirt and twigs. She was shortly followed by Takato, his head in his book and his free hand in his pocket.

"It was touch-and-go for a while there, but we finally got it!" Lisa said, grinning. "That was fun, wasn't it?"

"You have a very strange definition of the word," Takato noted. "It's a miracle you aren't injured."

Lisa waved her hand. "Please! That was nothing!"

Takato glanced at her, an eyebrow raised. _I wouldn't call having to climb the largest tree I've ever seen and then having to chase the bloody squirrel who stole the damned thing halfway across the woods 'nothing.' She didn't break any bones, at least... But she's certainly energetic, to be able to keep up with that rabid thing..._

"Anyway, what's important is that we got the key!" Lisa continued. "And it looks like we were the first back, too!"

She felt a sudden chill go up her spine and abruptly stopped, eyes wide. Takato bumped into her.

"Hm?" He looked up from his book. "What's the hold up?"

Lisa was silent for a moment. Takato furrowed his brow.

"Uh, Lisa? Is something wrong?"

After a moment, Lisa slowly shook her head. "... It's nothing." Her fist suddenly shot up into the air. "Now LET'S GO!" She started off again. Takato winced at the sudden increase in volume, but followed nevertheless, his head back in his book. He didn't notice the small frown on Lisa's face.

_I hope you're okay, Dianne..._

* * *

"To think that there was someone like that still in the battle," Dianne muttered to herself, her hands stuffed in her pockets. _Though to be fair, judging from his power level, he isn't exactly a pushover... _She raised her gaze to the sky. _In fact, in a fair fight, he could even give me some trouble... There's no way I'd ever let someone like that beat me, though._

Suddenly her eyes widened, and she came to an abrupt halt before jumping back just in time to dodge several large, spiked rocks, which fell and embedded themselves in the ground where she had been standing a second before. She stared at the rocks in shock.

_Wha – _

"Ah, darn. Looks like I missed."

Dianne's eyes widened, and she turned towards the sound to see four figures emerge from the trees: a large brown mole beside a 13-year-old boy with a black mohawk and dark eyes, dressed in all black and holding a teal-coloured book; and an extremely tall, thin and gangly faceless mamodo in a black suit beside a 9-year-old boy with black hair and green eyes in a red hoodie, khaki shorts and white sneakers, who held a pitch black book.

"You're pretty good," the mole said. "To be able to detect us... As expected of an elite, you're really something. But this is the end of the road for you."

Irritation came onto Dianne's face. "And who are you supposed to be?" The mole grinned.

"I'm Osia." It pointed a thumb at the punk teen. "This is my book owner, Terry. And these –" It pointed at the other pair. " – are our partners, Slim and Rando. Remember those names, because we're gonna go down in history as the mamodo who took down the Impenetrable Wall!"

"You honestly think you're a match for me?" Dianne said, an eyebrow raised.

"Well, if you could use your spells, then no." Osia grinned. "However, right now you're alone, and more or less easy pickings for us."

"And you'd be willing to call that a victory?"

"People won't really care how we managed to do it. They'll be too busy fearing anyone with enough power to break through your spells." The books in Terry's and Rando's hands started glowing. "No need to sweat the small details. Right, Slim?"

The lanky mamodo nodded. A rage vein appeared on Dianne's forehead.

"Cowards," she spat, taking a fighting stance. "Fine, then. I'll show you the power of an elite!"

"Heh, you can try," Osia replied. "Slim."

A huge, terrifying aura burst into life around Slim. Dianne froze up and started trembling violently, overwhelmed.

_What the... I can't... move..._

"What's the matter?" Osia asked, smirking. "I thought you were gonna show us the power of an elite?" Dianne couldn't reply. "Well, if you're not gonna do anything, I guess we'll attack!"

"Giganogroda!"

"Ganzu Shidosen!"

Osia's claw smashed into the ground, shattering it and sending a shower of large spiked rocks forward, and Slim fired off several spheres of darkness at submachine speed. Dianne was unable to move as the attacks flew at her.

_Dammit..._ Her eyes squeezed shut. _This is gonna hurt...!_

Loud whams sounded out into the air.

_... Wait, I don't... feel anything..._

Dianne opened her eyes to see Dante standing in front of her, bruised and battered. Five stars hovered around them protectively. Shock came across her face, as well as on Osia's and the faces of the two book owners.

_Why..._

"Are you okay?" Dante said. The look in his eyes, the same one that Amon and Trevor had faced, betrayed his calm exterior.

Dianne slowly nodded. "Y... yeah..."

"Good."

"What... what the hell is this!?" Osia yelled. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Making the fight fair," Dante replied. "Dianne! Go and get our book owners! I'll keep them busy!"

He shot forward at Osia and Slim. Dianne could only stare, bewildered.

_He's..._

"You really think you can stand against us?!" Osia roared, as Slim unleashed his overwhelming aura again. However, Dante just charged on, the look in his eyes intensifying.

"UUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH!"

He slammed into Slim and Osia, sending the two mamodo flying back. Shock was evident on Osia's face.

_He isn't affected by Slim's aura?!_

"My book owner's name is Nat Anamura!" Dante yelled. "He's in Team 1 for the scavenger hunt! You'll find him easily, he doesn't feel like the others!"

Dianne hesitated.

"GO!"

Dianne jumped, then turned and ran as fast as she could in the direction of the camp site.

"Ugh..." Osia slowly got to his feet, then saw that Dianne was getting away. A rage vein popped up on his forehead.

"LIKE I'D LET YOU!" he shrieked.

"Giganogroda!" Terry chanted, and Osia smashed its claw into the ground again, sending large spikes after them. However, the stars shot over to the spikes and smashed into them, destroying them. Osia stared, wide eyed, before a fist drove into its gut, knocking it back. It looked up at Dante in shock.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." That intense look was still in Dante's eyes. "Your opponent right now is me."

* * *

**Chapter thirty-one, everyone! AND ON TIME THIS TIME. :D Hope you liked it!**

**Thanks to everyone who's reviewed since last chapter: Bren Tenkage (almost there! Just wait a little longer!), 4fireking (yeah, good luck to both of us! See you in the rankings!), The Pocketwatch Ripper (I have done well! *tears of joy* How'd you like the chap, eh?), thatguy3331 (heh, I won't lose! ]=D Thanks! I'll keep at it!), and Ultimate Black Ace (Er, well, it's good, but I've kinda stopped taking submissions... I'll see what I can do. Thanks, though!)! And thanks to all the readers! I'll try my best to make it more interesting from now on!**

**This weekly thing, as it turns out, was a great idea. :D I'm already ahead by almost a full chapter! With some luck, in a few weeks I'll be far enough ahead of you guys to gloat about it. XD We'll see.**

**Mamodo team debut: Osia and Terry**

**Submitted by: Bren Tenkage**

**Until next week,**

**Cyaz!**


	32. Level 32: She's Coming Back, Right?

"Shidoru!"

A blast of darkness shot from Slim's hands. Dante ducked to avoid the attack, and it flew over his head as he charged at Slim. Dante slammed headfirst into Slim's stomach, sending him flying back, and continued on towards Osia.

"Dorugroda!"

A drill of earth formed around Osia's claw, and it shot forward at Dante, claw raised. Dante bent out of the way of the drill, then was knocked off his feet by Osia's leg sweeper. Before he could even fall, Osia lashed out at him, and its claw slammed into his side, sending him flying. Dante flipped and landed on his feet, skidding back a bit.

"How long, exactly, do you intend to keep this up?" Osia asked, straightening up, as Dante spat out some blood.

"As long as it takes for Dianne to get back with our book owners," Dante replied, wiping his face.

"Ha!" Osia grinned. "Idiot. You actually think she's coming back here?"

"No."

Osia raised an eyebrow as Dante raised his head, that intense look still in his eyes.

"I know she is."

* * *

Dianne sprinted through the woods as fast as her legs could carry her, headed for the camp site.

_Gotta hurry... Gotta find Lisa and Anamura..._

Soon, the camp came into view, but Dianne didn't slow down. She couldn't afford to waste even one second. There was no telling what had happened by now...

Her eyes widened, and she slowed to a walk.

_That's right... there's no telling what's happening back there... for all I know, he's on their side! _Her gaze lowered to the ground. _Now that I think about it... That save was far too convenient... And no normal mamodo would've been able to keep going even when faced with that aura... _

She stopped and hit her forehead. Was she an idiot? How could she have been so blind? There was no way that he would just suddenly arrive and save her, especially not after she'd threatened him the way she did.

_That's right. There's no such thing as an ally in the King Tournament..._

That was a pretty smart plan, though. Pretending to save her to gain her trust, and then getting his book owner so he and the others could finish her off... It was an old trick, but it was a good one.

_If it was a normal mamodo, it'd definitely have worked. But..._ A determined expression came onto her face. _There's no way an elite could fall for that sort of trick. _She put her hand on her waist. _I can't just leave them, though. They'd come and wreck the camp site. No matter what, I can't get bystanders involved._

A grin spread on her face.

_Trying to trick _me_, of all people..._

She started off towards the woods again, her fists clenched at her sides, and a rage vein on her head. The nerve of those thugs, trying to dupe _her_...

She'd show them. She'd show them why she was an elite.

* * *

Jiko stood anxiously at the spot where Dante had left her, near the edge of the woods. It had been at least ten minutes since Dante had left, and he still wasn't back. Her brow furrowed in worry, and she wrung her hands. Was he in trouble? Did he need her help? But he said she should stay here, didn't he?

_... Maybe I'll just go check, just to be sure... There's no harm in just making sure, right...?_

Suddenly she heard approaching footsteps and perked up.

"Finally!" she exclaimed. She ran up to the woods. "I was starting to get worried that something had –"

She stopped when she got a better look at the approaching figure, and started to tremble. As Dianne emerged, Jiko took a few shaky steps back and then fell on her backside, trying to put as much space between her and the elite as possible.

"Wh-wh-wha..." she stammered. Dianne raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't touch your 'friend,' if that's what you're asking," she said. "Just so you know, though, I don't appreciate being duped."

Jiko's eyes widened. "Wh-what d-d-do you –"

"Oh, drop it," Dianne interrupted, rolling her eyes. "I know about the ambush already. Too bad for you, I figured it out on the way here."

Utter confusion spread on Jiko's face. What was she talking about?

"I have to hand it to you guys, though," Dianne continued. "You really thought this out. Having two of you out here to lower my guard, planting the other two in the woods, and even pretending to save me from my enemies so I'd trust you..."

Alarm crossed Jiko's face.

"There were mamodo in the woods?!" she exclaimed.

"Cute," Dianne said, narrowing her eyes. "But you can drop the act now. I can't risk putting my partner and her classmates at risk, though, so I'm gonna have to take care of your friends. I'd advise you to stay well out of sight if you want your book intact."

With that, she was off towards the campsite. Jiko stared after her, then back into the woods.

_She said she was attacked by other mamodo... And Dante must have stepped in to save her! _Jiko realised. _And now he's fighting alone against two mamodo teams...! _

She sprang to her feet and took off.

_I have to help him!_

* * *

"Hey, Taka-chan."

Takato twitched at the 'cute' nickname. "What?"

Lisa leaned back in her chair and put her legs up on the Team 1 table, where the two were seated. "How come you never talk to anyone?"

Takato was silent for a moment.

"... I have nothing to say," he finally said.

"Isn't that really lonely, though?" Lisa sat up and looked at him. "Don't you want any friends?"

"Friends aren't something I have any use for," Takato replied. "I don't see the point in associating with a bunch of idiots when I could be doing something useful, like reading."

Lisa frowned. "Is that really okay, though?"

"Why do you care?" Takato looked up from his book, an eyebrow raised. Lisa grinned.

"Well, I like you, Taka-chan. You're interesting and really smart, but you're also really mysterious. You always act like you don't care about anything, but I think you're a really nice person, deep down inside."

Takato was caught off guard by Lisa's reply. He stared at her in surprise, and she beamed at him.

"Hey, let's be friends, Taka-chan!" she said. "I'll show you how much fun having friends can be. Whaddaya say?"

Takato just stared at her for a moment.

"... Do as you like," he finally said, returning to his book.

"Then from now on, we're friends!" Lisa declared cheerfully. "Do your best, Taka-chan!"

"Whatever."

Lisa grinned and leaned back in her chair again. "Hey when do you think the others'll –"

She spotted Dianne some distance away, holding up the pink book, and her eyes widened.

"When they'll get back?" Takato finished, still reading. "No idea. I thought we'd be the last ones, but –"

"Hey, yeah, that's great!" Lisa interrupted, suddenly standing up. "Listen, I have to go do something right now. I'll be right back!"

She took off. Takato raised an eyebrow, then shrugged and returned to his book.

"Mamodo!? Here!?" Lisa exclaimed, as the two ran through the woods.

"I told you, didn't I?!" Dianne retorted. "Enemies can come at any time! We have to hurry!"

_We have to corner them here in the woods! _she thought, gritting her teeth._ We can't let them get anywhere near the camp site!_

Lisa looked down at her, and a frown spread on her face.

"Hey, Dianne..."

"What?"

"The mamodo who came into save you... Are you sure he didn't just want to help?"

Dianne was silent for a moment.

"... That's impossible," she finally said. "He has to be in league with them, I'm sure of it. No mamodo in this battle would put themselves at risk for a potential enemy..."

_... Right?_

* * *

Dante stood before Slim and Osia, panting heavily. He was thoroughly battered, and was bleeding in several places. Osia grinned.

"Idiot," the mole taunted. "Even you should be able to tell by now that she isn't coming back for you. Yet you're still fighting this losing battle."

Dante simply glared at the mole, the look in his eyes burning brightly.

"You still haven't given up, have you," Osia muttered. "That stubbornness..." Several rage veins popped up on its forehead. "... REALLY PISSES ME OFF!"

"Ganzugroda!"

Osia smashed its claw into the ground, sending several large spiked rocks forward. Dante crossed his arms in front of him for protection as the spikes smashed into him, pushing him back. Suddenly a large, spindly hand clamped down on his head, and he was lifted off his feet and came face to lack thereof with Slim.

"Shidoru!"

A burst of darkness shot from Slim's free hand and engulfed Dante for a moment before blasting him away. As he was sent flying, he could just barely hear a spell being cast. He landed hard on the ground a few metres away.

"Dorugrodo!"

Suddenly Osia's drill-covered claw slammed into Dante from under, sending him flying again. He landed hard on his side some distance away, and lay still for a moment before trying to get up.

"Shidona Riguron!"

Tendrils of shadow wrapped around him, keeping him pinned to the ground.

"Well, this was annoying," Osia said. "Time to put an end to this joke of a battle."

"Gigano Shidora!"

A huge blast of darkness shot from Slim's hands, and Dante, weakened and pinned down as he was, was unable to do anything as it approached.

_Ugh... I'm done for..._ Dante's eyes squeezed shut, and he grit his teeth_. Sorry, Dianne... I couldn't..._

"Seoshi!"

Just before the blast engulfed him, a fairly large, slightly angular 'half-bubble' of pinkish energy appeared over Dante. The spell hit the 'bubble' edge-on and split right down the middle, the two halves going in different directions. The bubble itself was completely unaffected by the attack. Dante's eyes widened in shock.

Slim let out a sound of alarm, and shock crossed Osia's face. "What the –"

"Saisu!"

A wave of energy shot from somewhere beyond the trees, and Slim and Osia jumped back as it smashed into the ground where they had been standing a second ago. The shadow ropes holding Dante down dispersed in Slim's shock.

_His book owner came here?! _Osia thought. _No, he isn't the one casting these spells..._

The mole's eyes widened.

_Wait..._ _This aura..._

Osia stared as two figures emerged from the surrounding trees, a few metres behind Dante. Alarm came onto its face.

"Dianne!?"

Dante looked back as Dianne and her book owner approached, and a faint grin came onto his face. "You came... with your book owner... and..." Confusion came onto his face as Dianne got closer. "Wait... Where... Where's Nat...? Why didn't you..."

**Boof!**

Dante was sent flying to the side. He hit a tree back first and slid to the ground. Osia, Terry and Rando looked at Dianne in shock as she lowered her leg.

"In your condition, you'll just get in my way," she said flatly. "Lie over there for a bit." Lisa simply shook her head.

_She just kicked her own ally out of the way... _Osia thought, dumbfounded. _She really is fearsome..._

"So!" Osia jumped as Dianne turned towards it and Slim. "You thought you could beat me without my magic, eh?" A very scary grin came onto her face. "Well, then. Let's see how you fare now that it's an even fight." Lisa opened the book in her hands, which started glowing brightly, and Osia started to tremble. "Now you'll see the power of an elite."

* * *

**Chapter thirty-two, everyone! Thanks for reading! Getting this out in time was a real drag, because somehow I couldn't manage to find time this week to sit down and write, so sorry if the ending feels rushed. Hope it wasn't too bad!**

**Thanks to all the reviewers since the last chapter: **

**Bren Tenkage (yes. o.o Thanks!)  
****thatguy3331 (yeah, what of it? :P I'll pace it after this, honest! Thanks!)  
The Pocketwatch Ripper (glad you liked it! XD Here's an early birthday present!)  
DeathySophia (YOU RETURNED! *glomps* Thank you very much! And dun worry about it! You might want to use your computer, though... :P)  
Ultimate Black Ace (hey, thanks for the critique again! I'll improve from here on out, so please stick around!)  
'just some guy 'reader' who's kept up,' now known as Silverstrom (haha, thanks! Mamodo Battles has gone weekly, so the story should be moving along faster now!)  
4fireking (it's no problem at all. :) Thanks, and good luck again! Keep writing no matter what!) **

**And to all the readers, thank you very much!**

**Well, I haven't managed to write ahead as I'd hoped to, but hopefully nothing'll come up in the following week. So until next week,**

**Cyaz!**

* * *

OMAKE:

A green-haired, grey-eyed girl who looked about seven, wearing a white sundress, laid in a field beside a seventeen-year-old with long black hair in a braid and green eyes, wearing a baggy black shirt and holding a green spellbook with snakes along the spine.

"Hey, Meduss..."

"Yeah, Selina?"

"It may be just me, but... Does it feel like we've been 'put on a bus' or something...? Like we're missing out on things...?"

Meduss looked over at Selina. "You're right..." A thoughtful look came onto her face, and she shrugged. "Well, can't be anything too important, I guess."

"I guess so..."


	33. Level 33: The Difference Between Us

_What the..._

Dianne watched from the trees, dumbfounded, as Dante was knocked about by Osia and Slim. She took in all the blood and bruises, the way he wasn't quite able to move his left arm, the ease with which he was being tossed about like a beach ball.

_He was actually..._

"Gigano Shidora!"

Dianne trembled as the huge burst of darkness was fired at Dante, fists clenched at her sides. Unable to watch Dante get obliterated, her arm raised of its own accord.

_Dammit...! _

"Lisa!"

"R-right!" The book in Lisa's hands glowed brightly. "Seoshi!"

A semi-angular 'half-bubble' of pinkish energy appeared over Dante, protecting him from the attack and taking Slim and Osia by surprise.

_Even though this is the King Tournament... Even though we're enemies... _

Teeth gritted, Dianne ran out into the clearing, Lisa right behind her.

_Dammit!_

* * *

Osia and Slim stared at Dianne and Lisa, shocked and more than a little frightened. Osia started to panic a little.

_She actually came back... she actually came back?! With her book owner?! _

Dianne raised an eyebrow. "Are you just gonna stand there or what?" A scary grin came onto her face. "Or would you rather I attacked first?"

"Ah!" Osia yelped, alarmed. "A-ATTACK!"

"Ganzugroda!"

"Ganzu Shidosen!"

Osia's claw smashed into the ground, sending a shower of large spiked rocks forward, and Slim fired off a barrage of dark spheres at submachine speed. Dianne held out a hand in front of her as the spells approached.

"Seoshi!"

The semi-angular 'bubble' appeared around her and Lisa, and the spikes and dark spheres slammed into it to no effect. A small grin came onto Dianne's face as her hand twitched.

"Reversal."

The spikes and spheres shot off the bubble and were sent flying back at a shocked Osia and Slim. The two mamodo dashed to the sides and the book owners quickly moved back as the spells smashed into the ground where they had been standing a second before, destroying it.

_She sent the spells back at us?!_ Osia thought, shocked.

Suddenly Dianne was right in front of Osia, a leg drawn back. The mole's eyes widened.

"TERRY!" it yelled, panicked.

"Grodo!" Terry chanted, and Osia quickly burrowed underground, just in time to avoid Dianne's kick. Suddenly Slim was right behind her, hands wide open and pointed at her head.

"Shidoru!"

A blast of darkness shot from Slim's hands, destroying the immediate area, and kicking up some dust. The dust cleared to reveal that Dianne was no longer there.

"Too slow," a voice muttered from behind Slim's head. Dianne was standing on his shoulders, a bored expression on her face.

"You're trying to defeat me, right?" Dianne continued. "So why are you coming after _me_?" A small, scary grin came onto her face. "The book should be your target, shouldn't it?"

Slim's arm shot up and grabbed at her, but she moved out of the way of his hand and caught his wrist. She dropped off Slim's shoulders and turned, using the momentum of her fall to pull Slim off his feet and slam his head into the ground. Rando stared, wide-eyed.

"She just flipped Slim over like it was nothing..." he muttered.

"Relax," Terry said. "Slim was just a distraction, remember? We have her right where we want her now." The book in his hands glowed brightly. "Dorugroda!"

"Lisa, take three steps to your left."

Lisa quickly moved as Dianne instructed, just in time to avoid Osia's drill as the mole shot up from the ground where she had been a second before. Terry's eyes went wide, and shock was evident on Osia's face.

_What the..._

"Seoshi!"

"Repel."

A small, round half-bubble appeared around Lisa and suddenly expanded outward, slamming into Osia and throwing the mole back. Osia landed hard on its back a few metres away and quickly got to its feet.

_Even through my cloak... she could tell exactly where I was...?!_

"Ganzugroda!"

Osia slammed its claw into the ground, sending several large spiked rocks forward at Lisa, who was still within the bubble.

"Idiot. It's the same thing, isn't it?" Dianne muttered, her hand twitching. "Reversal."

The spikes hit the bubble and rebounded once again, shooting towards Osia. The mole dashed out of the way as the spikes embedded themselves into the ground.

"Kuh...!" Osia exhaled, gritting its teeth. _Can't even get close to her book...!_

Dianne suddenly looked as if she'd noticed something. Her hand shot up and stopped Slim's descending fist just before it connected with her head, and a grin came onto her face again.

"Someone's upset," she noted. She glanced back at Slim, who was radiating that overwhelming aura, out of the corner of her eye, her grin growing. "I haven't forgotten about you, don't worry."

Slim let out a shocked sound, and Rando's eyes widened. _She isn't even affected by his aura!?_

Dianne gripped one of Slim's fingers and turned on her heel, pulling Slim off his feet. She grabbed Slim's wrist with her other hand and swung him around and around, then let go of him, sending him flying towards his book owner. Rando dove to the side, getting out of the way, and Slim flew headfirst into a large tree behind him.

_The last time she couldn't even move..._ Rando thought, looking at Dianne as she turned towards Terry. _But now she didn't even flinch... What the hell is she...?!_

"That aura won't work twice on me," Dianne said. She raised her hands up behind her as Lisa's book glowed. "One down." Terry's eyes widened.

_Shit...!_

"Grodo!" he yelled, and Osia quickly dug into the ground.

"Saisu!"

"Grododia!"

Dianne's arms whipped forward and down in an X. Suddenly the ground under her shook rather violently, knocking her off her feet, and the X-shaped wave that shot from her hands went off to the side, completely missing Terry. Dianne fell onto her side and quickly flipped back up onto her feet.

"Dorugrodo!"

Dianne tilted her body to the side, avoiding Osia's drill attack as it burst out from under her. The mole stared at her, wide-eyed, as she drew back her fist, and she planted a solid punch in its gut, sending it flying away from her.

_Amazing..._ Dante thought, watching the fight with wide eyes. _She's more than a match for the both of them, even without spells...!_

Osia flipped and landed on its feet, then looked forward at Dianne, who had a bored look on her face.

"Is this it?" she asked, slightly amused. "This is the extent of your power? And you honestly thought you could beat _me_?" A taunting grin came onto her face, and she slipped her left hand into her pocket. "You guys are really funny."

Osia's eyes went wide, and a rage vein popped up on its forehead.

"DON'T LOOK DOWN ON ME, YOU BITCH!" the mole roared, raising its claws. "TERRY!" Terry nodded, and the book in his hands shone brightly.

"Gigano Gronzu!"

A huge, nasty-looking drill made of rock appeared in front of Osia and shot forward. Dianne's eyes narrowed.

"That's enough out of you," she muttered, raising her right hand.

"Giga La Seoshi!"

A smooth 'bubble,' rounder than Seoshi, appeared around Osia and the large drill. The drill hit the edge of the barrier and was deflected right back at Osia full force, severely damaging the mole and completely destroying the area within. Osia shrieked in agony as the drill tore viciously into it.

The barrier disappeared at the same time as the drill, and Osia fell to the ground. Dianne was in front of the mole, a leg drawn back, before it hit the ground, and she lashed out, driving her boot into Osia's chin with enough force to smash a human's head right off their shoulders. Osia was sent flying back and slammed headfirst into an approaching Slim, knocking him backwards.

"Yeah, so that wasn't much better," Dianne remarked, bored.

"Kuh..." Osia and Slim slowly got to their feet.

_She's on a completely different level than us... _Osia thought, panting heavily. _But..._

"WE'RE NOT FINISHED YET!" it yelled, raising its arms. "TERRY! RANDO! NO HOLDING BACK!" Slim raised his arms, and Terry's and Rando's books shone brightly. Dante's eyes widened.

_We can't pull back, no matter what...!_

"GIGANO GRONZU!"

"GIGANO SHIDORA!"

Osia summoned a rock drill twice as large as the last, and Slim fired off another gigantic blast of darkness. Irritation crossed Dianne's face as the attacks approached.

"Tch," she exhaled.

"THIS IS THE END!" Osia shrieked.

"It certainly is," Dianne replied, bored. She raised her hand. "Lisa." Lisa nodded, and the book in her hands glowed brightly.

"Ma Seshield!"

A large, pink circular shield with a seal of defence in the centre appeared in front of Dianne just before the spells reached her. The spells slammed into the shield, but they had absolutely no effect on it.

"Wha –" Osia's eyes went wide. _She blocked both of our Gigano-class spells at full power like they were nothing?!_

"This level of power won't even scratch my shield," Dianne said. "Maybe this will show you how much difference there is between us." She drew her arm back slightly, and the corner of her mouth curled up viciously.

"_Double Reversal._"

With a forward thrust of her arm, the huge drill and burst of darkness were shot back with double the force. Terror came onto Osia's face.

"R-RANDO!" it yelled, panicked.

"B-BOJIRUDO SHIDOSEN!"

Slim raised his hands, and a large black concave shield appeared in front of them. The spells easily destroyed the shield and smashed into Osia and Slim, resulting in an explosion which brought up a cloud of smoke.

The smoke cleared to reveal a large crater, in the middle of which lay Osia and Slim, heavily injured. The two book owners had been blown off their feet by the force of the spells, and were now struggling to stand.

_Utterly defeated... by our own spells... _Osia thought, unable to move. _She really is... on a completely different level..._

"Now, then."

A steel-toed boot landed a few feet in front of the mole with a heavy thud, coming into its field of vision. Osia's eyes widened, and it looked up to see Dianne, grinning evilly. Osia and Slim trembled, filled with terror.

"Before I sent you mooks back, I believe a punishment is in order," Dianne said, cracking her knuckles.

"W-wh-what for...?" Osia stammered weakly.

"Oh, I dunno... For attempting a one-sided assault on me, for wasting my time with this joke of a battle, for having the audacity to go against me even being as weak as you are... Take your pick."

Osia's eyes grew to the size of saucers. "C-c-can't you j-just burn our books and b-be done with it?"

"Oh, no, that won't _nearly_ be enough." Dianne's evil grin grew, and she closed in on the terrified mamodo. "I have to teach you never to go against me ever again."

* * *

A grinning Kyle placed a small key on the table, next to the one from the woods. Takato glanced up at him.

"About time you got here, sloth," he said, returning to his book. "What, did you actually go and finish all our food?"

"Hey! I'm one of the earliest back, aren't I?" Kyle replied. "Most of the other teams only have one of their keys."

"And the few who have two keys both came after me and Lisa."

Kyle raised a confused eyebrow. "So? We're way ahead of anyone else in our team set!"

Takato spared him a scathing look. "The winners are the first _two_ teams, idiot. It's no good if we're the third or fourth out of the five. And even if we get all our keys first, we still have to find the treasure."

"Ah, right..." Kyle muttered. He shrugged and sat down in the seat beside Takato's. "Well, we can't really do anything right now, so we'll just have to wait for Nat and Kari, huh..."

He noticed something coming towards them, and a grin spread on his face.

"And here they come!" he said. Takato glanced up to see Nat and Kari running towards them. Kari was waving the key above her head.

"We got it!" she announced, plonking the key down on the table. "And it was all thanks to Nat! If it wasn't for him, we'd never have found the thing."

"Heheh, I didn't really do anything..." Nat said, blushing slightly and scratching his head. A sly grin crossed Kyle's face.

"Hey, where's Lisa?" Kari asked. "Wasn't she with you, Takato?"

Takato shrugged. "Had to go do somethin'. Said she'd be back soon."

"Oh, okay. Well, now that we have all the keys, let's get to figuring out where the chest is!"

Something caught Kyle's eye, and he looked towards a nearby cabin to see Jiko waving at him. He got up and made his way towards her as the others tried to make sense of the clues that came with each key.

"Wait, these don't even make any sense!" Kari said.

"Maybe we're reading it wrong," Nat suggested. "Let's try rearranging them..." The two pored over the cryptic notes. Takato glanced up briefly from his book

"... Now, I'm no expert on these things," he said, "but wouldn't this be easier without holding hands?"

The two went wide eyed and looked down to see that their hands were still clasped together. Both of them blushed and quickly pulled away from each other with a hasty "Sorry!" Takato smirked at Nat's expression, then glanced at Kari and was surprised to see something almost like... disappointment?

He shrugged and returned to his book. Wasn't his problem.

A hand clapped down on Nat's shoulder, startling him, and he turned to see Kyle beside him, a grin plastered on his face.

"Could I borrow Nat for a sec?" he asked. "I need his help for something."

Nat raised an eyebrow. Judging by the urgency in Kyle's grip, something was up.

"But we have to figure this out!" Kari protested.

"This is really important. Please?"

Kari let out a sigh. "Fine. But you guys have to get back as soon as you're done!"

Kyle nodded and took Nat aside. Nat gave him a questioning look.

"Dante's up against two teams in the woods," Kyle muttered. Nat's eyes widened. "Get your spellbook. I'll be waiting at the lodge."

Nat nodded and ran off. He found his backpack where he'd left it and quickly pulled the book out. A puzzled look crossed his face, and he looked at the book for a moment before shaking his head and running to the lodge, beside which Kyle and Jiko were standing, Kyle holding the metal grey book.

"Come on!" Jiko said, taking off. Nat and Kyle followed her towards the edge of the woods. Nat noticed Kyle grinning slyly at him.

"What?"

"Where you going for the honeymoon?"

Nat's face went bright red, and he turned away. "S-shut up! Focus on the issue at hand here!"

"Right!" Kyle faced forward again. Nat looked down at the yellow book.

_Well... I don't really think we have anything to worry about..._

* * *

A fading Osia and Slim had their heads and upper bodies buried in the ground, their butts sticking up pathetically. A few feet behind the two mamodo Rando and Terry lay unconscious, beside their burning spellbooks.

"That's that, then," Dianne exhaled, dusting her hands. "Go reflect on your actions in the Mamodo World." She walked back towards Lisa and looked up at her. "You okay? You're not hurt or anything?"

"Oh, no, no, I'm fine!" Lisa replied cheerfully, waving a hand. "And you were awesome as always! I really don't see why you're so scared of fighting all the time..."

Dianne's brow furrowed. _It's not as simple as that. We were lucky that our opponents weren't really strong this time..._

She noticed Dante leaning on a tree out of the corner of her eye, and she looked to see him staring at her.

"Ah, yeah..." Lisa looked at Dante as well, then back to Dianne. "Look, before you make your decision, you have to remember that he did keep them distracted, like he said. I don't think he was ever on their side."

After a moment, Dianne let out a sigh and turned. "Come on..."

Lisa nodded and followed her towards Dante, whose expression of awe turned quickly into one of alarm. He pressed further back into the tree as they stopped in front of him. Dianne raised her hand, and the book in Lisa's hands started glowing.

"Saifojio!"

A large sword with a pink, winged orb in place of a hilt appeared above Dianne's hand. Dante's eyes widened, filled with terror.

"N-no, wait –"

Dianne whipped her hand down, and the tip of the sword drove into Dante's chest, impaling him. After a moment, upon noticing a distinct lack of pain, Dante opened his eyes, which had squeezed shut on their own, and stared down at the sword as the orb started to rotate.

_Hey... the pain... it's fading..._

The sword gradually faded away, and Dante looked down at himself to see that all of his injuries were fully healed.

"Wha..."

"Don't take this the wrong way. My feelings about the Tournament haven't changed."

Dante looked up at Dianne, who was looking off to the side, refusing to meet his gaze.

"But whatever your reasons were, you did help me when I needed it," she continued. "And I can't overlook that." She looked down at him. "I still think your way of thinking is wrong, but... I guess..." She scratched her head and looked away again. "... I _guess_ we don't have to be enemies for the time being."

Dante's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yes, but only until after the field trip!" Dianne said quickly. "Only until then. After that it's back to normal, you understand?!"

Dante nodded. "Got it." He rose to his feet. "Me and Jiko won't attack you, and you won't attack us. Right?"

Dianne nodded and extended her hand. "Do we have a deal?"

Dante beamed and took her hand. "Deal!"

"Good."

Lisa smiled as the two mamodo shook hands. That wasn't quite what she had been hoping for, but a truce was better than nothing. She looked at Dante's beaming expression.

_Don't give up, Dante-chan!_

* * *

Jiko, Kyle and Nat were almost at the clearing near the edge of the woods. Jiko noticed a movement beyond the trees.

"Someone's coming!" she said. The three came to an abrupt halt, and Kyle opened up his spellbook. They cautiously watched, battle ready, as the footsteps came closer. After a moment, Dante emerged from the woods. Surprise crossed Jiko's face.

"Dante!" she exclaimed, running forward. Nat and Kyle let out relieved sighs.

"Sorry... I sort of got lost... Heheh..." Dante scratched the back of his head, grinning sheepishly.

"Eh?" Jiko gave his a confused look. "But what about –"

"That thing I had to get?" Dante interrupted quickly. "Yeah, I got it." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a spiky-looking acorn. "I just _had_ to get one of these before we left!"

Nat rolled his eyes, grinning. Well, at least Dante was safe. "Just don't go running off again, alright?" Dante nodded, and he turned to Kyle. "Come on, we have to get back to the treasure hunt. If we hurry, we can still win!"

Kyle nodded. "Right!" A huge grin came onto his face. "Wouldn't want to keep your_ girlfriend _waiting now, would we?"

With that, he ran off. Nat went beet-red and chased after him. "Sh-SHUT UP, KYLE!" Kyle just laughed and kept running.

Dante watched the two with a grin as they disappeared from view. He felt a tug on his sleeve and looked back at Jiko, who had a puzzled expression on her face.

"What happened? I thought..."

Dante just grinned and shook his head. "Don't worry about it. All you have to know is that Dianne isn't our enemy anymore."

Shock came onto Jiko's face. "What?! Was she –"

"No, no!" Dante exclaimed, frantically waving his hands. "She just won't attack us anymore."

"O-oh." Jiko blinked, and then grinned. "That's great!"

Dante smiled. "Yeah..." He looked towards the camp site.

_For now, at least... we have nothing to worry about._

* * *

**Bet no one was expecting that beat down, eh? Heh heh. Don't worry, this is what we call the calm before the storm.**

**Chapter thirty-three, everyone! :D Hope you liked it! **

**Thanks to all the reviewers since last chapter:**

**kitsunelover300 (wise words, young one. *nods* Thanks! I hope you liked this one as well!)  
A guest reviewer (heh, what do you think of her now, eh? And, well... _you will just have to wait. And. See._ XD Thanks for the review!)  
Bren Tenkage (nah, nah, they'll return soon enough.)  
Ultimate Black Ace (so, yeah, thanks for the review again! I'll improve from here on out, I promise!)  
The Pocketwatch Ripper (haha, no problem! ^_^ I hope you liked this chapter as well!)  
Silverstrom (well, I haven't pinned down an exact day _quite_ yet, but I'm thinking I may start on Fridays... for now, though, expect them every Sunday.)**

**And thanks a lot to all the readers!**

**Now, regarding my update schedule... I am in fact thinking of updating on Fridays instead of Sundays, which is why you guys are getting an early update. :) Updating on Friday gives me more time to write now, y'see, cause I have Saturday and Sunday, while the weekdays are filled with work. I won't make it official just yet, but if I can keep it up until November, then that's when it'll be set. For now, you'll probably get updates two days early, but you should still expect updates for Sunday.**

**So! Until next week,**

**Cyaz!**


End file.
